Seoul — The South Korean government and telecom companies have dismissed rumors that Chinese users opened new mobile phone accounts without proper id checks after a nationwide disruption sparked by a fire at the national data centre.
Social media posts last week claimed the state‑run ID verification system had been suspended, meaning anyone could activate a new line. Representative Park Jeong‑hun said that between September 27 and 30, more than 150,000 phones were registered with fake ids, a period that matched the launch of the country’s temporary visa‑free entry program on September 29. He blamed a four‑day outage caused by a blaze at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in Daejeon on September 26.
Telecom officials countered that the system was back online by September 29 and that carriers scrubbed any suspicious registrations. A spokesperson for one of the local telecoms said, “We will take stern action against those who used fake IDs.” The spokesperson also noted that most new activations had gone through the proper checks, with a few having been simplified at first and later verified as legitimate.
A government official added that there was “no problem” in the process and that alternative ID‑checking methods were available. Under South Korea’s real‑name verification system, foreigners holding a resident registration card can open regular mobile accounts. Visitors on short stays or those in the visa‑free program can only get prepaid SIM cards.
While this drama unfolds, Yonhap reports that about 1,700 global business leaders—including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang—will attend a major forum in Korea on the sidelines of the upcoming APEC summit.
Source: ianslive
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