In South Korea, obtaining a new phone number will now require mandatory facial recognition.

The Ministry of Science and ICT of South Korea stated that the country will require people to undergo facial recognition when applying for a new mobile phone number, as a measure to combat fraud and illegal registration of phone numbers. According to the plan, South Korea will require the country's three major mobile operators SK Telecom Co., KT Corp., and LG Uplus Inc., as well as mobile virtual network operators, to implement this additional verification step to prevent the activation of new numbers through identity theft. This new policy will be officially implemented in March 2026.