Cigarette Vending Machines Breached Even by 'Dooli ID': Bae Hyun-jin Proposes 'Fake ID Prevention Act'

▲ Representative Bae Hyun-jin of the People Power Party

Amid growing controversy after it was recently revealed that items can be purchased from unmanned stores and electronic cigarette vending machines by passing adult verification even with "fake IDs," Representative Bae Hyun-jin of the ruling People Power Party proposed a partial amendment to the Youth Protection Act on August 6, introducing a national certification system for adult verification devices used in unmanned adult stores and vending machines.

Previously, the Seoul Metropolitan Government conducted intensive inspections of e-cigarette retailers across the city for two months from April 24 to June 23. The results showed that out of 415 e-cigarette vending machines, 339 were found to allow adult verification using identification cards.

While unmanned stores and vending machines—such as tobacco and alcohol vending machines, unmanned adult goods stores, unmanned bars, and unmanned lodgings—are rapidly increasing, under the current law, there were no national standards to check whether adult verification devices actually function properly.

Authorities only checked whether the devices were installed, failing to properly manage whether they could filter out forged or altered IDs and block minors from gaining access.

Representative Bae stated, "A recent inspection of adult verification devices on e-cigarette vending machines by the Seoul Metropolitan Government revealed that nearly half of them allowed e-cigarettes to be purchased using forged or altered IDs." She added, "E-cigarettes could even be purchased from unmanned vending machines using a 'Dooli ID' that was obviously fake to anyone."

She continued, "As unmanned stores and vending machines have already become part of daily life, there is an urgent need to introduce a separate standard adult verification system to protect children and adolescents." She emphasized, "We will filter out shoddy devices from the market and establish national standards that both business owners and the public can trust."

The amendment includes provisions requiring adult verification devices to receive national certification starting from the manufacturing or import stage.

The core is to establish common standards that can properly verify the user's age and identity, and filter out the fraudulent use of others' identity verification means as well as forged or altered IDs.

To ensure the burden of introducing the system does not fall solely on existing business owners, the amendment also includes supplementary measures providing a one-year grace period for devices already installed and operating at the time the law takes effect, while allowing the central government and local governments to subsidize all or part of the costs if they replace them with certified devices or retrofit and upgrade existing devices to meet the standards.

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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