Korean Personal Data Available Online

A list of hundreds of Koreans’ names and resident registration numbers has been posted on well-known Internet game sites and portal sites in China and Taiwan.

A Chinese online site even offers a program that creates the second part of a Korean resident registration number when a user puts in a Korean’s birth year and date.

Considering the high possibility that the recent illegal use of Koreans’ names for playing Lineage, an online game, was based on information gleaned from those websites, it is time for the government to draw up measures to protect personal information on the national level.

Dong-A Ilbo searched major game websites of each country in the world yesterday and found out that Koreans’ personal information, including names, resident registration numbers, addresses and phone numbers, were available in detail on the free board of Taiwanese large game portal sites, such as “playstar.idv.tw” and “www.gamebase.com.”

By using this personal information, one can not only register freely for Internet game sites, but also conduct illegal online transactions, such as ordering products and conducting money transfers.

That is because most websites confirm a user’s actual name with the name and resident registration number that the user puts in when registering.

In particular, Chinese websites, such as “www.17173.com” and “game.china.com” are operating programs which create a random resident registration number when a user puts in the birth year and date of a Korean.

There is an “Online Korean ID Card Number Generator” installed on the main page of the website “www.i972.net,” and the program specializes in generating resident registration numbers. The website also offers a detailed method of using Korean online games free of charge.

One can find actual names coupled with resident registration numbers by utilizing portal sites, including Google.

Dong-A Ilbo has also found out that an individual’s homepage in the U.S. has names and resident registration numbers of Koreans.

A Chinese gamer, who Dong-A Ilbo contacted through an online messenger program, said, “It is quite normal to utilize Koreans’ personal information to use Korean game websites which limit the registration of foreigners,” adding, “There might be few people who think that is illegal in China, Taiwan or other southeast Asian countries.”

Park Geun-woo, a team leader of AhnLab, said, “To prevent personal information from being posted on the internet, you must continue to update your vaccine program to block spyware.”

Jae-Young Kim jaykim@donga.com