The world¡¯s first identification cards containing biometric information

The world¡¯s first identification cards containing biometric information

- Will be issued by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fishery(MOMAF) next year

- Encrypted fingerprint information stored in 2-dimensional barcode format

The world¡¯s first identification cards containing biometric information will be issued in Korea as early as in January 2006. According to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fishery on the 6th this month, fingerprint based electronic seafarers¡¯ identity documents(e-SIDs) will be issued to the over 20,000 sailors in Korea which will be utilized for the immigration procedure of sailors. This is the first case of identification documents issued by the government by applying international biometrics standards.

The development of the ¡®e-SID¡¯ system was initiated in May with HIT being selected as the main contractor; implementation was completed after 7 month with the system having entered test operation. Sailor¡¯s certificates, issued to sailors by MOMAF, have been used to simplify immigration procedures independently of passports; however, they can be forged with relative ease. To solve this problem, the issuing of ¡®e-SID¡¯s which store encrypted fingerprint information into a 2-dimensional barcode has been projected. This electronic identification document for sailors compares the encrypted fingerprint information with the fingerprint of the sailor possessing the document for identification; it has the advantage of being difficult to forge or alter.

Mr. Han Hong Gyo, manager of sailors¡¯ issues in MOMAF stated that ¡° the implementation of the e-SID system complies to the ILO conventions while its technology follows ICAO regulations; therefore, e-SIDs issued through this system are valid in any overseas location¡± and that ¡° by confirming the adoption of this system, e-SIDs will be issued starting from January 2006¡±.

Recently, the adoption of e-SIDs is being actively pursued in the Philippines and European countries; MOMAF expects that, once each country issues the new documents, the exchange of issuing status information will be possible among ILO member states thereby strengthening the security level of ID verification for immigration through the sea.

In particular, once the ¡®e-SID¡¯s are successfully issued, it is expected that the introduction of biometrics-based identification documents will be accelerated in various areas, such as the electronic passports currently in discussion by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, and the electronic identification cards of the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs and the Ministry of Labor Affairs.