The Official ID Certificate, which works as an electronic signature, was established by the government and has been generally required in ecommerce over the last 21 years. The monopoly that the government has on the certificate will be revoked this Thursday(Dec.10).
This means that consumers will now be able to choose from a number of options supplied by private companies.
Mike Laidman reports.


Korea’s Digital ID Certificate will soon disappear.


The “Digital Signature Amendment” will go into effect beginning this Thursday (Dec.10). The amendment revokes the monopoly that the government previously had on digital ID.



Consumers will be free to choose a certificate system from a variety of options supplied by private companies, such as KakaoPay Certification, Naver Certification, and other telecommunication firms.
This means that, hopefully, only efficient and competitive certificates will survive.


As private certificates don’t require confusing security programs, they are expected to lead to a more convenient way of conducting online financial transactions.

The website of the National Tax Service, gov.kr - operated by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, e-People - operated by the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission, as well as other government websites, will also soon allow private certificates.

However, the amendment doesn’t prevent banks and institutions from continuing to use the traditional certificates, and they will remain valid until their expiration, though they will be renamed ‘Joint ID Certificates.’

Biometric technology - using fingerprints and irises - will work alongside lock screens and shorter passwords in these new identity authentication applications.
ID certificates will be able to be stored and easily accessed from the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute cloud service, and not necessarily require a PC, mobile phone, or USB key, like now.
Their validity will be extended to three years from one year, and can be renewed automatically.



This change in the online identity authentication system is expected to pave the way for both competition, and ease-of-use, in the certificate market.

Mike Laidman, KCTV