A woman shows her mobile driver's license in this July 2022 file photo. Newsis

The World Bank has been exploring exemplary global digital ID cases worldwide to help developing countries adopt reliable digital authentication services. Korea is one of the leading examples it looks to.

Korea Minting, Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp. (KOMSCO) announced that it held a meeting with the delegation from the World Bank in Seoul, March 27, to share how digital ID systems are being established in Korea and bolster partnership.

"Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines and Indonesia as well as Latin Americas such as Costa Rica and Paraguay have shown much interest in Korea's mobile ID system, K-DID. We are getting request from other countries to introduce it to their countries," Lim Do-hyun, an executive in charge of ICT at KOMSCO, said at the meeting.

The Korean government has been endeavoring to expand mobile ID, with KOMSCO designated as the institution responsible for planning and implementing the overall project.

The service began with the introduction of the mobile public officer ID in 2020, followed by the mobile driver's license in 2022 and the mobile veteran's certification in 2023. Next year, the government plans to issue mobile national ID for all citizens aged 17 and above.

Korea's mobile ID has adopted the blockchain-based decentralized identity system, which boasts superior security compared with traditional centralized identity system. It is known to be better at preventing personal information leakage and identity theft, and also protecting personal right with strengthened ownership for users' private information.