Equal Internet Access for Foreign Nationals in Korea

by Sonagi on March 19, 2009

Korea’s foreign residents will soon be able to use their 13-digit alien registration numbers to access Korean websites that require ID verification.

{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog) March 19, 2009 at 9:42 am: I’ll believe it when I see it. The government has been promising this line of bullshit for 10 years already. They’ve even summoned me (and all other resident foreigners) to Immigration — in 1999! — to hand over my “old” alien registration number in exchange for a new one guaranteed to cure all my difficulties using Korea’s on-line services.

Here’s another tip for the government planners: If you want to compel Korea’s on-line services to be “foreigner-friendly”, bear in mind that a great many of us use a Mac. Government-mandated standards (if you’re going to have any at all) need to be platform-neutral and browser-agnostic; there is a great deal of knowledge on this topic outside Korea, but close to zero within Korea.
2 rmeurant March 19, 2009 at 10:44 am: As a dedicated Mac user since 1984, I heartily agree with Brendon’s second paragraph. Platform-neutral and browser-agnostic access is de rigeur.
3 NetizenKim March 19, 2009 at 10:59 am: Brendon Carr said: …The government has been promising this line of bullshit for 10 years already…

Ten years ago, the Korean government promised us the freedom of equal internet access. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Expats who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice.

But ten years later, the Expat still is not free. Ten years later, the life of the Expat is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. Ten years later, the Expat is still languished in the corners of Korean cyberspace and finds himself an exile. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

We cannot be satisfied as long as a Expat in Korea cannot surf the web with his alien registration number. We can never be satisfied as long as the Expat is the victim of the unspeakable horrors having to surf on a PC and not a Mac. We can never be satisfied as long as we are stripped of our self-hood and robbed of our dignity by virtual signs stating: “For Koreans Only.” No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

There. Fixed that for ya.
4 cm March 19, 2009 at 11:06 am: Yah, what is it about the Mac people anyway?
PC’s work just fine, never had any problems using XP – it’s a fantastic stable OS, and I never have to worry about software compatibility.
5 dda March 19, 2009 at 11:12 am: never had any problems using XP – it’s a fantastic stable OS, and I never have to worry about software compatibility.

Stop mailing yourself ganja…
6 Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog) March 19, 2009 at 11:14 am: Very funny, Netizen Kim. But there’s a real civil-rights issue at work here: Not only can’t I gain access to government services, I can’t save 10% on my online Domino’s pizza order if I can’t log in to the Domino’s website at all. Somehow, I’ve managed to survive 10 years on the periphery of society with the broken promise of a working national ID number, so I’m sure I’ll get by — but the repeated promise of “Now, it’s fixed!” sticks in my craw.
7 dda March 19, 2009 at 11:17 am: Last time I checked — and it’s been a while since I don’t have a 외국인등록번호 any more — Korean web sites use a JavaScript (or else) routine to check the validity of the number, but it didn’t take into account the new system for foreigners.
8 dogbertt March 19, 2009 at 11:24 am: You know, Netizen Kim, it was just something that was completely unnecessary and irritating for those of us who lived there. That’s all.
9 globalvillageidiot March 19, 2009 at 11:29 am: Maybe it will actually happen this time. (Just as I’m getting ready to leave!) But I’d also be inclined to believe it when the Large Cheddar/Bacon is delivered to my door.

As we’ve read upteen million times, NK had a traumatic upbringing (constantly getting buggy whipped on a plantation in the Bronx, or something along those lines). As a result, the struggles foreigners might face in Korea are something he feels the need to regard with a mix of skepticism and contempt.
10 Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog) March 19, 2009 at 11:43 am: What’s odd about it is the Korean government loves to promulgate standards yet this resident-registration number nonsense has been — and no doubt will continue to be — an irritant to those of us who have chosen to live here. It’s a known problem that could very easily be fixed. But instead it’s a daily reminder that nobody gives a shit about us, that we’re not considered to be people, really.
11 yuna March 19, 2009 at 11:52 am: Add to that the incompatible .hwp documents(hangul).
Not that I think microsoft word is the way to go, and a lot of linux users have issues with the office documents, anyway, having every government sites loaded with .hwp forms is also annoying.
and please get rid of those pop up windows and active x too.
12 Baek du boy March 19, 2009 at 12:01 pm: If this is true then it’s about time.

When I was a resident a few years I was sick of not being able to book transport online, or movie tickets, having to wait hours for a spare seat. Discounts on pizza…etc it all adds up.

I welcome such measure and hope they are introduced ASAP.
13 WeikuBoy March 19, 2009 at 12:12 pm: “Ten years later, the Expat is still languished in the corners of Korean cyberspace and finds himself an exile.” How sparkling.

Just this morning, two of my co-workers asked me to sign up for NateOn so they can chat with me. Bless their hearts, my co-workers actually seemed surprised that registration was a no go.

Let me guess: NetKim in other threads chastizes foreigners for not interacting more with Koreans, understanding the culture, learning the language, etc.
14 Tom Coyner March 19, 2009 at 12:28 pm: Not to get into a potential flame war between PC and Mac users, I can say that the foreigner national ID numbers are not accepted by Visa’s Verisign secondary verification screen – even for PC users.

I know something about this, as for four years I worked in the financial authorization software industry here. The company that I suspect ended up getting the Verisign Korea license was at the time a well-connected, hole-in-the-wall operation.

I assume what almost certainly happened is that this small organization’s programmer(s) didn’t even think about configuring the Verisign algorithm to accommodate foreigner national ID numbers. Which is not too surprising, given the very small percentage of Internet transactions conducted in Korea by foreigners (as compounded by the rejection rate of many sites by foreign national ID numbers – duh!)

In any event, whomever in Goverment and at Visa Korea needs to correct this software flaw at the Verisign as well as the general level, if foreigners are to attain equal access to the Internet market here.

But “equal access”? Forgive me, for a moment I forgot where I am.
15 dokdoforever March 19, 2009 at 12:39 pm: I ended up filing cases of discrimination against a few firms that didn’t accept foreigner IDs at the Human Rights Commission when I lived in Seoul. I was often in the neighborhood, and it was pretty easy to do. The Commission then calls up the company, and usually that’s enough to persuade them.
16 slouching_tiger March 19, 2009 at 12:42 pm: it’s about time. 성인 sites here we come.
17 Rambutan March 19, 2009 at 12:45 pm: Brendon wrote: “Government-mandated standards (if you’re going to have any at all) need to be platform-neutral and browser-agnostic”

Not just platform and browser, but language, too. Many Korean browser add-ons (security clients for payment and banking, downloaders for music) refuse to function on Windows versions that aren’t Korean.

It’s possible to coax some of them to work by playing with the Regional & Language section in Control Panel (setting non-unicode programs to Korean) but often even that doesn’t work.

Frustrating.
18 DLBarch March 19, 2009 at 12:46 pm: Brendon and Tom hit on an important point, albeit indirectly.

If Korea wants to continue to snub its foreign professional expat community, then fine. It’s their country, and they can run it any damn way they please.

But official Korea also desparately wants to be any number of global “hubs” — financial, transport, whatever — and it can’t do that as long as it treats its foreign professional expats like second-class citizens. There are too many far more attractive places.

At a certain point, one gets tired of putting up with the daily indignities that is life in Korea. And then one leaves for Singapore or Tokyo or Hong Kong, where they should have gone in the first place!

Cheers,
DLB
19 huey222 March 19, 2009 at 12:49 pm: Mr Carr… too much or not enough coffee? You sound particularly acerbic today.

Non-Korean citizens with Alien Registration Numbers (ARN) can indeed register for a great deal of sites in Korea (including Domino’s Pizza).

For sites that do not accept ARNs online, there is often (but admittedly, not always) an option to mail or fax a copy of your ARN to the site owners and gain access to the site that way.

Also, if a site doesn’t accept an ARN online, it’s b/c they have made the decision not to subscribe to the appropriate database and utilize the protocols available from whatever the Ministry of Information and Communication is called currently.

In short, the Korean gov’t already has the infrastructure in place for ARNs to be accepted at each and every site in Korea. If a site doesn’t it’s b/c they choose not to.

My guess is that the “Friendly Digital Korea” project mentioned in the article will simply force sites to use the existing infrastructure.
20 3gyupsal March 19, 2009 at 1:25 pm: Yes!!! I can finally stream unsexy Korean beat and rape porn!!!!
21 Koreansentry March 19, 2009 at 1:41 pm: I’m glad this was finally done, I’m overseas Korean myself and have hard time joining some Korean forums and chat sites.
The down side of this of course these Chinese and Japanese trolls enrolling into Korean sites.
22 gbnhj March 19, 2009 at 2:31 pm: …Korean web sites use a JavaScript (or else) routine to check the validity of the number, but it didn’t take into account the new system for foreigners.

In short, the Korean gov’t already has the infrastructure in place for ARNs to be accepted at each and every site in Korea. If a site doesn’t it’s b/c they choose not to.

Yes, that is the problem. The system exists, but for whatever reason, businesses do not make use of it, and government does not force its use in the marketplace.

I simply wish the government would be more forthcoming about the situation, and lay the blame publically on the many businesses that do not offer Internet-based access on par with is available to those holding 주민등록증. Frankly, if everyone had to fax in personal information, it would be difficult, but it would also be more understandable. As it is, the system seems only to perpetuate a hassle for anyone not born into The Amazing Race.
23 cmm March 19, 2009 at 2:34 pm: I call huey on huey. I wasn’t able to register at domino’s or papa john’s last weekend. papa’s told me I entered an invalid number, and domino’s page reloaded the number entry page every time I tried. and, I’m not interested in faxing my ARC to them so I can order online the next day.

here’s the results of an experiment in online registering/shopping in korea by a foreigner:
http://www.gordsellar.com/2009/03/03/project-online-grocery-ordering-success-1/

GMarket has paying down though… almost every option you can imagine is possible for a foreigner, even paypal. And all in Englishy.
24 gbnhj March 19, 2009 at 2:35 pm: Sorry – I didn’t intend to make the blockquote look like it was a single statement. The blockquotes come from both dda and huey222.
25 R. Elgin March 19, 2009 at 2:40 pm: There is also the serious security issues surrounding the use of active-x components in Internet Explorer and almost every Korean site. This is why though I have a good bit of money in Korean banks, I will never, ever use a computer to check on it or perform most transactions through a Korean site. It is not safe or practical.

The problem lies squarely with the Korean Government on issues such as this and they can not manage all the things that they need to deal with either: security, information, etc. Frankly, if they subcontracted their technology concerns over to the Russian cyber-criminals and Chinese hackers that already enjoy the use of their netspace, it might function better.
26 misuda March 19, 2009 at 2:44 pm: Why doesn’t somebody develop software so a Mac can navigate the Korean Internet.
Maybe Apple should think seriously about this shortcoming of its product if it wants to compete in Korea (and other countries)
27 iheartblueballs March 19, 2009 at 3:33 pm: Let me guess: NetKim in other threads chastizes foreigners for not interacting more with Koreans, understanding the culture, learning the language, etc

Bingo, bango, bongo. It’s whitey’s fault for failing to adapt to Korean culture, and it’s also whitey’s fault when Koreans make it nearly impossible to adapt to Korean culture.

Stupid whitey!
28 bobbymcgill March 19, 2009 at 3:38 pm: A better solution would have been not to require the ID at all. But that makes too much sense.
29 Zonath March 19, 2009 at 3:44 pm: Not that I think microsoft word is the way to go, and a lot of linux users have issues with the office documents, anyway, having every government sites loaded with .hwp forms is also annoying.

As far as word documents and linux goes, OpenOffice has no trouble opening pretty much any .doc file I throw at it, and it might take a bit of tinkering, but I’m fairly sure the free .hwp viewer program from Haansoft could be made to work in Wine (assuming they don’t have a linux version available, what with Haansoft having released Asianux…) As for Apples, I admit not knowing a lot about them, but isn’t OSX more or less a repackaged version of Linux anyhow? I’m pretty sure the above would more or less apply for them. Sure, it’s not all convenient as having just one standard for everything, but it’s not as insurmountable as all that.
30 yuna March 19, 2009 at 4:14 pm: fantastic. when i have my later version of linux i will look for wine. you’re right,nothing is insurmountable in the world of incompatible systems, but it is just damned inconvenient, and wastes a lot of time.
31 Darth Babaganoosh March 19, 2009 at 4:30 pm: Maybe Apple should think seriously about this shortcoming of its product if it wants to compete in Korea (and other countries)

The shortcomings are not Apple’s. They are the programmers’, short-sighted in their coding of websites to fit ONLY windows and IE (and sometimes even only certain versions of Windows and IE; wrong version, no access).

Platform-neutral and browser-agnostic code has existed for YEARS. Why continue to use coding skills outdated by at least a decade? Why continue to rely on technology that is no longer supported because it has been continually shown to be a security hole (ActiveX)?

Korea keeps saying it’s a technologial “hub”? Can’t they bring their online technology into the 21st century?
32 R. Elgin March 19, 2009 at 5:24 pm: Exactly “Darth”. This is not a case of Apple adapting to Korean standards but of Korea failing to adhere to any internationally recognized standards. Korean sites rely upon Microsoft proprietary software that is exclusive and notoriously insecure. The only people that love it are the cyber-criminals and hackers that make money from exploiting its flaws.

For more background, for those not familiar with such:

http://www.rjkoehler.com/2008/08/01/active-x-korea-why-korean-banks-and-sites-have-security-problems/

Also, OSX is a version of Unix, not Linux and comes ready to run in Korean as well as a host of other languages. It is very flexible.
33 Sonagi March 19, 2009 at 6:32 pm: I’m glad this was finally done, I’m overseas Korean myself and have hard time joining some Korean forums and chat sites.
The down side of this of course these Chinese and Japanese trolls enrolling into Korean sites.

Unless you or those Chinese and Japanese trolls have Korean citizenship or stolen ID numbers, you won’t be able to access sites that require ID verification, currently limited to those with 13-digit national ID numbers and soon to include foreign residents with 13-digit alien registration numbers.
34 huey222 March 19, 2009 at 7:25 pm: CMM… I just tried Papa John’s and it was a no go for me… but I’ve been a registered member of Dominos for a long time now.

It often depends on how you enter your name in English. You have to enter it exactly as it is on your ARC. Mine is all upcase with no spaces and my middle name after my last name: FIRSTLASTMIDDLE.
35 Darth Babaganoosh March 19, 2009 at 7:38 pm: huey, in addition to that, you are limited to 15 characters. My LASTFIRSTMIDDLE totals 16 characters… won’t work. If I lop off the last character, voila, it works (for the sites that allow it, that is)
36 Darth Babaganoosh March 19, 2009 at 7:39 pm: brain fart… that should read 20 characters and 21, respectively
37 martypants March 19, 2009 at 9:19 pm: Wow – I’ll finally be able to play Sudden Attack. I can’t wait to have my ass handed to me by the 11 year old kids who spend their entire weekend playing.
38 huey222 March 19, 2009 at 9:31 pm: Darth… great tip about the 20-character thing. Thanks for that! My LASTMIDDLEFIRST is 19 so it was never an issue for me.
39 nyavogo March 19, 2009 at 10:52 pm: Will this happen before or after all these foreign smart phone shops will appear overnight after April 1st?

I sure haven’t seen fuckall for info about this long-awaited day on availability, other than one article mentioning there is still no iPhone deal, and that the GPS features won’t work on any phones here because of some Korean law about foreigners getting access to Korean maps.
40 Zonath March 20, 2009 at 1:42 am: Also, OSX is a version of Unix, not Linux

Thanks for the clarification. I think what threw me is the open-source base that OSX uses… Anyhow, I’m pretty sure both wine and OpenOffice come in Apple-friendly flavors as well.
41 misuda March 20, 2009 at 1:45 am: Apple OS had a lead on Microsoft with its desktop operating system in the 80s, early 90s.
Now they are both shit.
42 Bipolar Mindscrew March 20, 2009 at 2:02 am: Wow, a lot of complaints about the ID number. It took me 3 faxes and 6 phonecalls by Koreans to get me a Cyworld/NateOn account. On the other hand, I’ve signed up for other services with no problem using my ID… Some registrations only allow a few characters, which I imagine makes even some Koreans frustrated (ie, those with 4-5 syllable names)… the trick is to try your name’s different permutations, since there is no case or spaces in Korean names (ie ADAMS JOHN QUINCY, Adams John Quincy, ADAMSJOHNQUINCY).

Alas, even as a GEPIK teacher, I am required to have my ID and name in certain databases, one of which records my absences, sick days, etc… and took my poor Korean manager 2 days and dozens of phone calls to work out…
43 WeikuBoy March 20, 2009 at 11:49 am: “As it is, the system seems only to perpetuate a hassle for anyone not born into The Amazing Race.” – gbnhj

The Amazing Race. I love it. Funniest thing I’ve read since last year’s “ajummorphosis”.
44 kpmsprtd March 20, 2009 at 12:37 pm: Zonath, you are right about OpenOffice.Org. I use it on both Mac and Windows, and it handles anything and everything I throw at it–often after Microsoft and Apple wares have failed. Recent successes include unknown-format docs from a Unix system back in the ’90s, plus some odd Thai language docs that threw the mighty Google Docs for a loop. I salute the people who keep OOO running strong.
45 cmm March 20, 2009 at 1:00 pm: darth and huey, thanks for the advice on name entry and character limits–I’m in at domino’s.

and once this gov’t initiative kicks in I’m sure papa john’s korea will fall right into place… sarcasm.

I sure haven’t seen fuckall for info about this long-awaited day on availability, other than one article mentioning there is still no iPhone deal, and that the GPS features won’t work on any phones here because of some Korean law about foreigners getting access to Korean maps.

my iPod Touchy’s GPS works with Google Earth… push a button and it zooms in on my location. Unfortunately, it was about 30 feet in front of my apartment
46 Arghaeri March 21, 2009 at 2:21 pm: The only difference between the 13 digit korean numbers and the 13 digit alien numbers is that the alien one begin with 5. The korena ones with 1,2,3 or 4 depending on your sex and century of birth.

So it would seem the only prolblem is the websites having to sign up to more than one database, the local residents, and the alien residents. So it would seem the thing the government has to do is merge the databases into one for all residents. Hey presto when the website refers to the database it gets all the aliens too!!! It won’t mess with any government auditing or statistical functions since all the foreingers are easily filtered by their identifying nr. 5.
47 Arghaeri March 21, 2009 at 2:32 pm: Some people are missing the point on the mac v windows thing. Itsnot just mac v windows its Active x which means its mac/linux/windows vista v windows xp.

My wife always bereated the “inability” of a mac only to have exactly the same problems when I bought her a Windoze computer with Vista as the OS.

Ditto I have the same problems using the Firefox for Mac as I do Firefox for Windoze. That is as noted above that Korean web-programmers are generally too lazy to write code to international platform neutral standards but rely on Windoze Explorer only code.

So this is not a problem for Mac or Firefox or others, they have already made their products to suit international standards. It is the websites, and if their clients are happy with the fact that their “advertising” because thats what most website are, is missing a fair percentage of the target market, and typically a more lucrative part of the market (Non windows, non explorer are more likley to be ABCs). And with the ID thing also, when will they realise that they are excluding what is now a significant part of the market now that there are so many aliens in korea.

Excactly why is the ID number needed to order a pizza anyway, in england we don’t even have an ID number, let alone need one to buy a pizza.
48 gordsellar March 26, 2009 at 9:00 am: Yes, Netizen Kim has displayed a complete misunderstanding of the situation, as well as an axe to grind, but is anyone surprised?

This problem is, essentially, a symptom of how dysfunctional and even malformed the Korean internet is. Korean internet users are accustomed to being treated like potential criminals, is the bottom line — so much so that they think nothing of entering their national ID numbers when signing up at Domino’s Pizza or Gmarket.

It’s not just that the Internet is broken, therefore — it’s not just that ActiveX sucks, or that the sites don’t work for non-Koreans, or that they only world in Korean language versions of Windows XP. It’s not that Brandon can get 10% off his pizza orders, annoying though that may be for him.

It’s that the Korean people in general have essentially become accustomed to a pervasive government program of data collection that can, very easily, be manipulated (in the form of pressuring portal site administrators or service providers) to provide a record of scary amounts of an internet user’s online activity, from membership in social or professional groups, to their online shopping and comments on any range of news stories across the Korean internet.

The answer to this question:

“Excactly why is the ID number needed to order a pizza anyway, in england we don’t even have an ID number, let alone need one to buy a pizza.”

… is that it’s not “necessary.” But it’s highly expedient in terms of getting people accustomed to providing ID for every single action online, which is a great way to get people used to the idea that they ought to be required to identify themselves for every “speech act” online, which in the end is the point: if you treat everyone like a potential criminal, and in a way that ensures all risks are recorded and may come back to bite them in the backside, most — especially the brightest people, those likely to be the most devastating critics of a government — will err on the side of caution.

The problems with that situation are obvious for anyone who has thought it through. Worse, though, is the chilling effect on criticism of authorities online. The other day a student visited my office to talk about this very issue. She is very angry about it, and feels something desperately needs to be done, but is uncertain what one can actually do, when all criticism, to get voiced and read, needs to get online somehow. She told me that she almost never expresses her political opinions online, and stopped when she realized she was being constantly tracked.

And this is the tip of the iceberg. Some universities also pervasively track student data: one person I know was explaining how her employer tracks even things like health records (ostensibly for the purposes of bursaries or other programs that benefit students) but that the complete records — including medical records, and other personal data — are available to any prof in whose class the student registers. There’s not an iota of filtering for the purposes of privacy.

When you add in the fact that mass numbers of people have had their personal information hacked and used for illegal activities, because they were required to provide such information in order to play baduk online, it becomes apparent that something is very, very broken, especially compared with the forms the internet has taken internationally.

Is it not precisely the sort of internet a tin-pot dictator would set up, if he were convinced that having an internet was unavoidable, or a necessity for economic stability?

(It seems to me personally that the solution would be to launch an alternative Korean portal hosted and administrated outside Korea (but very nearby, like in Hong Kong or Japan), work very hard to get it VERY popular, and then start hosting overtly political events and allowing people to comment by registration, but without having to enter all the National ID info. And then when the Korean government decided to block it, it’d be popular enough there’d be an outcry, and public criticism, and it would eventually have to be made available again. The problem is, this plan requires someone who both has money and cares about digital freedom in Korea. I think the two may be, generally speaking, mutually exclusive.)