South Korea Requires Registration of New Mobile Phone Numbers with Face Recognition

ILLUSTRATION UNSPLASH/James Yarema

South Korea (South Korea) will require new mobile phone number applicants to undergo facial recognition as part of efforts to eradicate illegally registered mobile phones that are often used for fraud.

The South Korean Ministry of Science said that three mobile operators in the country - SK Telecom, KT, and LGUplus - as well as virtual mobile network operators, are required to carry out additional verification to prevent the activation of new numbers with stolen identities.

The policy was issued after South Korea launched comprehensive measures to combat voice phishing scams in August, including tougher sanctions for mobile operators that fail to implement prevention.

"By comparing the photos on the ID card with the owner's face directly and in real time, we can completely prevent the activation of mobile phones registered under false names using stolen or false identities," the ministry said in a statement quoted by ANTARA from Yonhap, Friday, December 18.

It is stated that the policy will make fraudsters face more obstacles to activating new mobile phones using data from hacking.

The new policy will be tested next week and officially implemented in March 2026.

The number of voice phishing cases in South Korea this year reached 21,588 as of November with a total loss of 1.13 trillion won (about Rp12.8 trillion), breaking through the 1 trillion won mark for the first time, the ministry said, citing a police report.