Next-Generation Electronic Passport Full Issuance Delayed Up to 1 Year Due to COVID-19 Impact

On the 22nd, citizens are examining the next-generation electronic passport scheduled to be introduced in 2020 at the 1st Korea Government Innovation Expo held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] The full issuance schedule for the next-generation electronic passport is expected to be delayed by up to one year this year due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

On the 8th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it held the 11th Passport Administration Subcommittee of the Passport Policy Deliberation Committee, chaired by Lee Tae-ho, the 2nd Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, with participation from related government agencies and private committee members, and resolved this matter.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that this decision was made due to the sharp decline in passport demand worldwide in the first half of this year as COVID-19 spread globally. They judged that if the electronic passports were fully issued starting in December as originally planned, more than 20 billion KRW in budget could be wasted.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the average monthly passport issuance volume decreased by more than 70%, from 400,000 passports last year to 50,000 this year.

However, the Ministry stated that if the current stock of blank passports is depleted during next year, the full issuance of the next-generation electronic passports is planned to begin before December next year. Additionally, to establish a stable issuance system for the next-generation electronic passports, diplomatic and official passports, which do not have stock issues, will be issued starting in December.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.