Korea Customs Steps Up Safeguards Against Stolen Clearance Numbers (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s customs authority said it will tighten identity verification for overseas online purchases next month, adding a new layer of checks to curb the misuse of personal customs clearance numbers following a series of data theft incidents.
The Korea Customs Service said Wednesday that starting Feb. 2 it will require overseas shipments to be verified against both the registered holder’s personal clearance number and the postal code of the delivery address. The move comes after repeated cases of clearance number theft in the wake of last year’s large-scale personal data leak involving the e-commerce platform Coupang.
Until now, customs officials verified clearance numbers by matching only the user’s name and phone number. The agency said the system proved vulnerable to abuse, as those details could be easily stolen or reused. By contrast, postal codes are harder to falsify, since individuals who misuse clearance numbers typically enter their own address to receive goods.
Under the new rules, customs will cross-check the delivery postal code submitted during overseas online purchases with the postal code registered on the clearance number issuance system. Shipments will be cleared only if the information matches.
The strengthened verification will initially apply to users who obtained a new clearance number or updated their personal information on or after Nov. 21 last year. For those users, any discrepancy between the registered address and the delivery information provided to online marketplaces or shipping agents will result in customs clearance being denied.
The customs service said the measure is intended to reinforce protections for consumers and prevent the unauthorized use of personal data as cross-border e-commerce continues to expand.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
