Around 1:00 AM on October 24, two customers entered a bar and took their seats, prompting an employee to ask for identification, and the customers showed mobile IDs.
However, what they presented were fake mobile IDs that can be easily fabricated on social media.
They were caught as minors by police who were dispatched following a report from someone else.
[Business Owner : At first, I thought, 'Ah, this wouldn't happen to me. I check IDs thoroughly.' But actually experiencing it made my hands tremble a bit. A lot.]
The police are reviewing whether to book them by applying charges of violating the Electronic Government Act.
However, back in May, four minors who drank alcohol using the same method were also caught.
At the time, however, the legal basis to directly punish them was ambiguous.
This was because it was difficult to apply existing punishment regulations related to the forgery of public documents to the act of forging image files of mobile IDs.
However, the situation has changed in just a few months.
Following the implementation of the revised Electronic Government Act last August, anyone who alters a mobile ID or uses it can now face up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won.
[Kwak Gyu-eun / Lawyer (Kim & K Law Office) : Accordingly, it is expected that the courts will impose stricter punishments under this strengthened mobile ID punishment provision, and the police will also strengthen investigations accordingly.]
Forging a mobile ID just to try and drink a glass of alcohol can now land you in serious trouble.
(Reported by Lee Hwan from CJB | Written by Lee Seyoung | Video by Park Hee-sung from CJB | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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