S. Korean gov't denies possibility of opening mobile phone accounts without ID

Seoul, Oct 19 (IANS) The South Korean government and telecommunication community denied rumors that some Chinese people had opened new mobile phone accounts without undergoing proper identity (ID) verification amid nationwide online disruptions stemming from a fire in the state data centre, industry sources said on Sunday.

Recently, some social media posts have claimed that ID verification was no longer required when activating new mobile phone lines, reports Yonhap news agency.

A separate report released by Rep. Park Jeong-hun argued that more than 150,000 mobile phones were registered without ID checks between Sept. 27 and Sept. 30, coinciding with the start of South Korea's temporary visa-free entry program on Sept. 29.

Park said the state-run online ID verification system had been out of service for four days following a fire on Sept. 26 at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in the central city of Daejeon.

However, government and telecom officials refuted the claims, saying the system was restored on Sept. 29 and mobile carriers have screened out any unauthorized identity use.

"We will take stern action against those who used fake IDs," said an official from a local telecom company, emphasizing that most new mobile activations went through proper verification procedures.

Some activations initially underwent simplified checks, but most were later verified as legitimate, he added.

According to an AFP report, a government official stressed there was "no problem" in the process, adding that alternative methods for ID checks were available.

Under South Korea's real-name verification system, only foreigners with a resident registration card can open regular mobile accounts, while short-term visitors and visa-free tourists are limited to prepaid SIM cards.

Meanwhile, Yonhap news agency reported that about 1,700 global business leaders, including Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang, will gather in South Korea for a major business forum to be held on the sidelines of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

--IANS

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