South Korea to adopt fingerprint scanning at ports of entry and exit

 South Korea will adopt fingerprint scanning at ports of entry and exit

 

SEOUL - South Korea will introduce fingerprint scans at airports and ports from Wednesday in a bid to stop suspected criminals and foreign visitors with forged documents, officials said.

 

Immigration officials will scan the fingerprints of suspect arrivals to check against databases for possible criminal records, the justice ministry said Monday.

 

A facial recognition programme would be used as a secondary device, it said.

 

"We will closely check related documents of visitors. Immigration officials will also use their instinct and experience in sorting out suspicious visitors," a ministry official told AFP, declining to give details.

 

Anyone with a criminal record in South Korea or travelling on a fake passport would be banned from entering the country, the ministry said.

 

"This will ... contribute to the successful hosting of the G-20 summit," it said in a statement.

 

South Korea has tightened security measures ahead of the G-20 summit in November.

 

Four international airports plan to start screening suspicious passengers with full body scanners from October 1.

 

Government officials have insisted the scanners are an effective way of preventing terrorism, despite complaints that they violate privacy.

 

Full body scanners will only be used on passengers considered a possible security threat, while others can opt to be scanned manually by airport staff.

 

The machines have fuelled controversy around the world, with several European countries and the United States introducing them.

 

SOURCE: AFP

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