S. Korea to fingerprint long-term foreign residents from July

SEOUL, June 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will start fingerprinting longtime foreign residents in the country as part of strengthened immigration control efforts, the Justice Ministry said Thursday.
Foreign nationals entering the country from Friday and planning to stay for 91 consecutive days or longer must register all 10 of their fingerprints as well as facial information at immigration counters under a revised immigration control law, the ministry said.
The revision, which passed the parliament in April last year, is set to come into force that day.
Subject to the electronic fingerprinting are those aged 17 or older.
Foreigners who are already staying in Korea for 91 days or longer will be allowed to get their fingerprints collected at local immigration offices across the country from January next year, the ministry said.
"The data will be used to identify foreigners in case of crime or accident and to manage social security systems for aliens," the ministry noted.
About 200,000 foreigners are likely to have their fingerprints registered by the end of this year, it added.
The data filing had been suspended since late 2003, but the law revision paved the way for the ministry to resume registration.