South Korea’s Road Traffic Act has been amended to provide a legal basis for mobile driver’s licenses. (Act No. 20155, Jan. 30, 2024.) The amendment will become effective October 25, 2024.
A mobile driver’s license is a license installed in encrypted form on a cell phone or other mobile communication device. The amendment includes provisions for the issuance of such licenses, verification of holders’ identities, and penalties for fraudulent use.
The mobile driver’s license was first introduced in South Korea on July 28, 2022, by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Police Agency after a six-month pilot program focused on information privacy and convenience of use. They have been used to identify owners in public service agencies, banks, convenience stores, and car-sharing services.
Act No. 20155 establishes the legal basis of issuance of mobile driver’s licenses and verification of them. (New art. 85-2.) It allows the commissioner of police to issue a mobile driver’s license if a person seeking a regular driver’s license also applies for a mobile one. It also provides for a verification service that can check the holder’s name, photo, address, resident registration number, driver’s license number, and issuance-related matters associated with using a mobile device.
The amended act prohibits using a mobile driver’s license in the name of another person illegally. (New art. 92 (3).) Violations will be punishable by imprisonment with labor for not more than two years or a fine not exceeding five million won (around US$3,700). (New art. 150, subpara. 3.2.)
The amendment clarifies that the return and collection of mobile driver’s licenses are to be done electronically. (New art. 95 (1) & (2).)
Apart from provisions on mobile driver’s licenses, Act No. 20155 requires local governments to prioritize the installation of protective fences in child protection zones. (Art. 12 (5), subpara. 3.2.) Child protection zones require limited driving speeds on certain sections of roads around places enumerated in the law. (Art. 12.)
Prepared by Inseol Hong, Foreign Law Intern, under the supervision of Sayuri Umeda, Foreign Law Specialist
Law Library of Congress, August 29, 2024
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