"My Hands Shook Experiencing It Firsthand"... Teens Trying to Fool Pub Owner Risking Criminal Records

[Anchor]

Minors who use fake mobile identification cards to drink alcohol can now face criminal punishment. Previously, due to ambiguous legal grounds for punishment, business owners often bore the brunt of the damage, but with the law changing, trying to sneak a drink could now leave teenagers with criminal records.

CJB reporter Lee Hwan has the story.

[Reporter]

At around 1:00 AM on October 24, two customers entered a pub and took a seat. When an employee asked for their ID, the customers showed mobile identification.

However, what they presented was a fake mobile ID easily created on social media.

Their underage status was exposed when police arrived following a tip from another person.

[Pub Owner: At first, I thought, 'Ah, this won't happen to me. I check IDs thoroughly.' But experiencing it firsthand actually made my hands shake quite a bit.]

Police are reviewing whether to book them on charges of violating the Electronic Government Act.

However, back in May, four minors were also caught drinking using the same trick.

At that time, the legal grounds to directly punish them were ambiguous.

This was because it was difficult to apply existing regulations concerning the forgery of public documents to the act of falsifying image files of mobile IDs.

However, the situation has changed in just a few months.

Following the enforcement of the revised Electronic Government Act in August, anyone who alters or uses a forged mobile ID can now face up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won.

[Kwak Gyu-eun / Attorney, Kim & K Law Office: Consequently, courts are expected to hand down stricter punishments under these reinforced mobile ID penalty clauses, and police are also expected to step up investigations accordingly.]

Trying to forge a mobile ID just to grab a drink can now land teenagers in serious trouble.

(Photo: CJB / Video by Park Hee-sung)

CJB, Lee Hwan
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.