From next month, South Korea will apply strengthened identity verification, including facial recognition, when consumers open a new mobile phone line or switch carriers through mobile operators and MVNOs. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced a comprehensive plan to prevent fraudulent phone use, including measures targeting identity theft, misuse of corporate names and tougher sanctions on carriers and retailers caught enabling illegal activations. It will also expand subscription-blocking services and tighten controls on foreign and corporate phone lines.

The Broadcasting Media and Communications Review Committee (Bamisin) will begin overhauling systems to respond to online hate speech. At a forum in Seoul, Chairman Ko Kwang-heon said content mocking historical events and social pain is repeatedly spreading, raising concern, and that views discussed would be reflected in policy and institutional improvements. Experts urged limiting legal regulation to extreme hate speech with clear harm, with weaker cases addressed through education.