"Even Middle Schoolers Can Get Through"... Unmanned E-Cigarette Stores in a Regulatory Blind Spot

An unmanned electronic cigarette store in Gangdong-gu, Seoul. Following the instructions, when an ID card was inserted into the vending machine, a red scanner light swept across it from inside. In less than five seconds, a message appeared saying, "Adult authentication successful." The machine had no device to compare the photo on the ID to the buyer's face; it only verified the validity of the ID card. This meant it was entirely possible to pass the authentication process using someone else's ID.

A 24-hour unmanned electronic cigarette store in Gangdong-gu, Seoul. Anyone can enter without supervision, and the interior is filled with a sweet aroma. Photo by Jaehyun Park

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The lax authentication system at unmanned electronic cigarette stores has become a gateway for youth to engage in smoking and other delinquent behaviors. Additional problems, such as ID forgery and misuse or proxy purchases of cigarettes, are also emerging as a result.

According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family as of April 15, anyone selling cigarettes or alcoholic beverages at unmanned stores must carry out an adult authentication process. Electronic cigarette devices and liquids are designated as harmful substances for youth under the Youth Protection Act, which prohibits their sale to those under the age of 19.

However, it has been found that many of the electronic cigarette vending machines currently on the market only determine the authenticity of the ID card and do not have the capability to verify whether the person using it is the actual owner of the card. Since these machines only recognize the chip or character string on a physical ID or passport to confirm its validity, there is no reliable way to screen out cases where a parent, sibling, or acquaintance's ID is used.

As a result, online communities are rife with people exploiting this loophole. Searching for keywords like "proxy purchase" or "代?" on social networking services (SNS) such as Telegram or X (formerly Twitter) reveals dozens of posts offering to forge or create physical ID cards, or to purchase electronic cigarettes on behalf of others for a fee. Kim, a 45-year-old parent of a middle school student, said, "I was shocked to see a photo of my child holding someone else's ID card in a group chat with friends," and added, "I'm worried they might be buying alcohol or cigarettes."

The screen that appears when searching for 'ID card proxy purchase' on social networking services (SNS). The left side shows posts expressing a desire to rent or buy a physical ID card. The right side displays a price list provided when requesting the production of a forged ID card. Photo by JaeHyun Park

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Store owners are aware of the problem but say there is little they can do. One owner operating an unmanned electronic cigarette store in Seoul said, "If the machine approves the authentication, there is no way for a store owner to prevent the sale," and added, "Introducing expensive biometric systems such as fingerprint or facial recognition would be a financial burden, and if we had to check every case of ID misuse, it would undermine the very purpose of unmanned operation."

Under current law, store owners are exempt from fines if they have fulfilled their obligation to check IDs but are deceived by forged or misused IDs. There are criticisms that such immunity provisions only widen the blind spots in enforcement.

The government plans to launch a research project within the first half of the year to address the side effects arising from the rapid increase of unmanned stores. The plan is to either make it mandatory for each store to implement a more secure adult authentication system-such as mobile ID or biometric authentication-or to establish recommended guidelines, instead of relying solely on physical IDs.

A Ministry of Gender Equality and Family official said, "Although electronic cigarettes are strictly regulated under the Youth Protection Act, it is true that as methods such as presenting fake IDs become more sophisticated, it becomes difficult to distinguish between real and fake in both manned and unmanned stores," and added, "As an amendment to the Youth Protection Act, which includes new identification measures for unmanned stores, has been announced and is scheduled to take effect in April next year, we plan to refine and establish detailed regulations during the grace period."

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