Korean Expats Get PINs to Join Domestic Websites

Korean nationals overseas whose residence registration in the country has been canceled are now able to make their way past the barriers many Korean websites put up in requiring real-name registration. As of Friday they can subscribe without the registration numbers.

The Ministry of Public Administration and Security said it is giving 1.2 million Korean nationals overseas whose residence registration has been canceled personal ID numbers, the so-called I.PIN, which make it possible to identify them based on the information on their passports. With the I.PIN, they can subscribe to about 400 private websites, such as portals or Internet shopping or game websites as well as about 3,000 public agency websites.

Expatriates can obtain their own I.PIN numbers on www.g-pin.go.kr.