Finger-Print Signing System for Foreigners Will Be Abandoned

The Justice Department announced on May 22nd that it decided to abolish a finger-print signing system for foreigners and would soon start revising related immigration law.

An official from the department said, “The system has been implemented for foreigners who are over 20 years old and lived more than a year in the nation. But various alternative measures are being discussed- one of them is to adopt the system only in case that it is needed in terms of public and national safety.”

The finger-print signing system which has been around for all the Korean people has been blamed for its possibility of intruding on people`s basic rights by recording potential criminals` finger-prints in advance under the national control.

Japan abrogated such system for foreigners in 1999.

The Justice Department plans to propose the revised bill to the Assembly by this fall after receiving opinions from all walks of life.

The Justice Department Minister Kang Kum-sil said on May 7th, “The finger-print signing system for foreigners residing in Korea for a while is wrong. It would not be right for those who came to Korea for investments, so I ordered the law to be abandoned.”

Myoung-Gun Lee gun43@donga.com