When Korean Sites Ask for a Resident Registration Number
· ppasong
Some Korean checkouts request a national ID number. Here is what it is for, when it is legitimate, and what to do.
What the number is
The resident registration number is Korea's national identity number, issued to citizens and, in a parallel format, to registered foreign residents. It encodes birth date and other identifying information and functions as the anchor for essentially all identity verification in the country. The format is thirteen digits split into two groups, and the second group encodes gender and region of issue in a way Koreans can read at a glance.
The legitimate reasons a store asks
Customs clearance on personal imports into Korea requires a personal customs code, which some sites collect alongside identity data. Age verification for restricted products requires it. Certain financial and telecom services legally require it. Ordinary retail purchases generally should not. Korean privacy law has tightened considerably over the past decade, which is why most retail sites that once collected it no longer do.
The personal customs clearance code
This is the item most often confused with the ID number itself. It is a separate code Korean residents obtain from customs to use instead of their ID number when importing. If a site asks for a customs code rather than the ID number, it is following the safer modern practice. The code is a alphanumeric string issued instantly through the Korean customs portal, and it exists precisely so that ID numbers stop circulating among retailers.
What you should actually do
Never supply someone else's number, and do not fabricate one, which is a criminal matter in Korea. If a site requires it and you have no Korean identity, that site is not available to you directly. An order placed by a Korean-account service supplies the ordering party's own legitimate details. If a service is placing the order, the customs and identity details belong to that service as the buyer of record, which is the entire point of the arrangement.
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Frequently asked
A small number of sites accept a foreign registration route. Most do not offer the option at all.
Usually it does not, and the request often reflects an older signup template. Sites requiring it for ordinary retail are worth avoiding.
Korean privacy law restricts collection of the number without a legal basis. Do not supply one that is not yours under any circumstances.