I Bought an Album, and It Contains My Singer's Resident Registration Number and Home Address? [News Explanation]

(45) Resident Registration Cards Created to Capture North Korean Operatives
Cards No. 1 and 2 Issued to Park Chung-hee and Yuk Young-soo Couple
Mobile Resident Cards Pilot Issuance Starting December

Editor's Note'Seolcham' is a newly coined term meaning to refer to explanations for more detailed understanding. In [News Seolcham], we aim to pinpoint parts of the news that require fact-checking or further explanation and provide more detailed information.

How absurd would it be if your favorite singer's album included his resident registration number? While unimaginable today, this was actually the case in the 1980s. Recently, an album by singer Lee Sun-hee released in 1985 has become a hot topic on online communities because it contained his birth date, resident registration number, registered domicile, and current address. Nowadays, resident registration numbers and ID cards are strictly protected personal information used for identity verification, financial transactions, and administrative procedures, but in the past, they were merely personal identification tools introduced to capture spies.

Album by singer Lee Sun-hee released in 1985. Screenshot from SNS

The issuance of resident registration cards in Korea began due to the so-called 'Kim Shin-jo Incident.' On January 21, 1968, at the height of North-South tensions, 31 North Korean special forces infiltrated as far as the hill behind the Blue House but were discovered. At a press conference the next day, North Korean agent Kim Shin-jo shocked Korea with the phrase, "I came to cut Park Chung-hee's throat."

In response, the Park Chung-hee government, feeling a grave threat to national security, amended the Resident Registration Act in November of the same year to start issuing resident registration cards to residents aged 18 and older. This was to facilitate quick and easy identity verification to help capture North Korean agents. The resident registration system is credited with contributing to national unity and improving administrative efficiency by introducing a single form of identification. Previously, different resident cards were issued by each city and province, making identity verification difficult.

The first and second resident registration cards were issued to former President Park Chung-hee and his wife. Their resident registration numbers were 110101-100001 and 110101-200002, respectively. At that time, the resident registration number consisted of 12 digits: the first six indicating the residential area and the last six representing gender and registration order.

On November 21, 1968, former President Park Chung-hee is receiving his resident registration card at the Jahadong Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Korea Policy Broadcasting eVideo History Museum

From 1975, the system changed to a 13-digit resident registration number with the birth date in the front digits and gender and regional code in the back digits. This system was used until 2020. It is known that Kim Dae-young, former Vice Minister of Construction and a senior researcher at the Korea Development Institute (KDI), developed this system inspired by the U.S. Social Security Number.

Since October 2020, the regional code in the back digits of the resident registration number has been replaced with a random number. This change was made due to concerns that knowing the number alone could reveal the person's region of origin, potentially leading to regional discrimination, and because it was easy to estimate the entire resident registration number if the birth date and region were known.

Additionally, from those born in 2000 onward, the gender digit changed from 1 (male) and 2 (female) to 3 (male) and 4 (female). This was according to the 'Resident Registration Number Assignment Plan for Those Born in the 2000s' finalized by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in 1998, to distinguish between those born in the 1900s and those born after 2000.

However, there is criticism that the origin of the resident registration system lies in the Japanese colonial-era Joseon Residency Ordinance. In 1942, Japan mandated Koreans to report their residence through this ordinance, which was a means to strengthen forced mobilization and colonial control. For this reason, many view the resident registration system negatively due to its similarity. In fact, other countries like France and Germany also have personal identification cards, but these are mostly welfare service cards, and the personal identification number changes upon reissuance.

Meanwhile, 56 years after the issuance of resident registration cards, the government will introduce mobile resident registration cards this year. Any citizen aged 17 or older who has been issued a resident registration card can apply. By visiting the town, township, or neighborhood community service center and scanning a one-time QR code generated for mobile resident registration card issuance, the card can be issued immediately. Starting from the 27th of next month, a pilot issuance will be conducted for about two months in nine local governments including Sejong and Goyang City in Gyeonggi Province, with plans to expand nationwide thereafter.