October 17, 2025
SEOUL – Some foreign nationals can sign up for South Korean mobile phone services before entering the country with only a copy of their passport, a shortcut that bypasses identity verification requirements in place for locals.
Lawmaker Choi Hyung-du of the People Power Party, citing data his office obtained from the Korea Communications Commission, claimed that the country’s second-largest mobile carrier, in particular, makes use of “a regulatory blind spot” that leaves foreign identity checks largely to corporate discretion.
According to the lawmaker’s office, KT worked with brokers in Vietnam and Nepal that collected passport copies from workers and students planning to come to Korea. The mobile operator advertised a “5G postpaid plan for visa holders” overseas that required applicants to register abroad using only a passport. The monthly fee was 36,575 won ($25), and service could start “immediately upon arrival” in Korea.
Rep. Choi’s legislative aide, Park Jae-sung, told The Korea Herald on Tuesday that the “loophole should never be left to company policy but must be addressed by law.”
Under South Korean telecommunications law, every new subscriber must undergo identity verification. For locals, that means scanning a government-issued ID through an anti-forgery system. But for foreign nationals, the rulebook is vague. Many sales outlets only scan passport images and check them by sight, with no digital confirmation of authenticity. In practice, as Choi’s report describes, the process “relies on the conscience of the seller.”
KT has not denied that some accounts were activated through passport copies.
In a conversation with the Herald, a company spokesperson explained that foreign national customers are re-verified once they obtain their Residence Cards and insisted that KT’s overseas SIM service is formally approved by the Ministry of Science and ICT. The official added that the company cross-checks other documents, such as employment contracts or university admission letters, to confirm a customer’s identity.
However, such steps are not mentioned in KT’s published service terms.
Competitors SK Telecom and LG Uplus maintain stricter verification requirements.
SK Telecom only permits foreigners to open postpaid lines with a Residence Card, applying separate rules for diplomats, US military personnel and overseas Koreans. LG Uplus allows passports but requires additional documents, such as a standard employment contract for E7 and E9 visa holders or an admission letter for D2 and D4 visa holders, and mandates in-person identity verification. In contrast, KT accepts a single passport copy for certain visa holders (E7, E9, D2, D4) and even processes registrations abroad before entry into Korea.
The risk is not theoretical. The number of burner phones registered under foreign national names in Korea soared from 474 cases in 2019 to more than 71,000 in 2024, according to the National Police Agency. Voice phishing scams cost victims about 800 billion won ($558 million) as of July this year, and losses are expected to exceed 1.37 trillion won by year’s end.
Although no evidence directly links KT’s program to those crimes, Choi warns that weak verification procedures make such misuse far easier.
Choi urged the government to strengthen ID requirements for all foreign national subscribers and link telecom verification systems with immigration databases. He also called for improved technology to detect forged documents and for stricter monitoring of outlets registering large numbers of foreign users.
