[Anchor]

Fake mobile identification cards are spreading rapidly among teenagers these days. Business owners who have checked these IDs are now facing the risk of business suspension, but it has been confirmed that it is virtually impossible under current law to hold minors who create and use these fake IDs accountable for crimes such as forgery of official documents or violations of the Resident Registration Act.

CJB reporter Lee Hwan reports.

[Reporter]

This is the mobile ID screen from the government's "Gov.kr" (Jeongbu 24) app displayed on a smartphone.

Although the date of birth indicates the holder is an adult, it is actually a fake mobile ID created at the request of our reporting team.

Recently, a method has become popular among teenagers where they exploit the "add to home screen" feature of internet browsers to create fake ID webpages that look and function just like the official app.

However, it has been found that there is no legal basis to punish minors who purchase and use these fake IDs.

When creating these fake screens, users keep their own photos and addresses but randomly change the digits of their birth dates. This results in an ID under the name of a person who does not actually exist—a "fictitious person" in legal terms.

While stealing another person's actual ID or a captured image of it is punishable under the Resident Registration Act, the act of altering the numbers on one's own ID to create a "ghost" identity does not fall under the crime of fraudulent use of a resident registration card.

It also cleverly evades the crime of forgery or alteration of official documents under the Criminal Act.

This is because a dynamic web screen that appears in real-time on a smartphone screen is not recognized as a fixed "document" under the Criminal Act.

[Kim Jin-gu / Lawyer: Since an image file is not considered a document under the Criminal Act, crimes such as forgery of official documents, uttering of forged official documents, or fraudulent use of official documents do not apply at all. Under current law, there are no provisions to punish a minor for forging and using a mobile ID image file.]

An amendment to the Electronic Government Act, which addresses the institutional loopholes of mobile IDs, is scheduled to take effect in two months. Until then, business owners need to exercise extreme caution to avoid becoming innocent victims while the legal system remains defenseless.

(Video by Park Hee-sung, CJB)

Reported by Lee Hwan, CJB