60 foreigners denied entry after start of fingerprinting

Sixty foreigners from 12 countries have been denied entry into South Korea for using passports issued under some else’s names since Sept. 1, the day when a fingerprinting scanning system was introduced ahead of the G20 Seoul Summit in November.

The Ministry of Justice said Sunday they had previous records of fabrication of residential IDs, violation of drug-related laws, overstaying of their visas or other crimes.

“Their state of origin varies ㅡ from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa,” said a spokesman for the Korea Immigration Service. “The outcome shows the system’s efficiency in screening out suspicious immigrants, and assuring security for the upcoming international event.”

Currently, foreigners deemed “suspicious” must have their fingerprints scanned and face photographed at all 22 international airports and harbors across the nation.

This is the first in a three-phased initiative to screen out “suspicious visitors” by matching their biometric information with that of “blacklisted” people by the ministry and Interpol.

The legal grounds for the initiative were reinstated in early August ㅡ the law was scrapped in 2003 over fears of human rights infringement.

In a second step to be implemented by earlier 2011, foreigners who stay here for more than 90 days will be subject to screening.
All visitors aged over 17, excluding diplomats and those visiting with official duties, will have to provide fingerprints and photographs to the ministry in the third step to be completed by later next year.

“This measure will efficiently help block the entry of foreigners who are very likely to commit a crime here or overstay their visas,” the spokesman said.

According to the ministry, more than 1,500 people were caught attempting to pass through immigration on false passports in the first seven months of the year.

Chinese passports were the most frequent target of fabrication at 732, followed by Thai at 425 and Mongolian at 57. Some deported foreigners were found to have entered the country several times with passports issued under others’ names.

The government has adopted the fingerprint screening system to more effectively identify foreigners and combat potential crimes after the number of non-Koreans residing here surpassed 1.2 million.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/10/117_73904.html

thank you for sharing such a very good information sir EMART....

Thanks for the info Sir....