Well, I’m sorta for it but why stop there and fingerprint the rest of society since most foreigners have a lower crime stat (or so it’s said here…).

So if a suspect is pulled in, and no fingerprint record exists, they’re automatically seen as illegal… What’s the issue?

The issue is, from the complaints by cops I’ve read, is that illegals keep reentering the country on forged papers, and this makes it difficult to keep the criminal element out. Bluntly put, the authorities can’t keep track of who is who. Having the fingerprints on record also helps analyzing evidence easier.

If you read Korean, here’s more:

http://news.mk.co.kr/outside/v.....;no=325116

Another thing to remember is that all Koreans have their fingerprints taken when they get their Citizens IDs. So yes, it makes sense to fingerprint the foreigners, too. I just don’t see why they don’t do what the Americans and Japanese do and fingerprint every foreigner who enters the country, regardless of length of stay.

“This is one of the measures under review to reduce crimes committed by non-Koreans”

I’m sorry to say this but this is a dumb thing to say. Having someone’s fingerprint on record might help solve a crime but such prevents nothing and adds to the taxpayer’s burden to maintain such a database.

Perhaps the ministry of Justice should concern themselves more with the steadily rising influence of organized crime in Korea (most of which has foreign ties — as they well know) and how to track the flow of money and materiel used to enable these organizations.