South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service will launch a system Wednesday to track and share suspected cases of forged documents submitted by foreign nationals seeking health insurance coverage or dependent registration.
The system will allow NHIS offices nationwide to share records of document checks and cases suspected of forgery, the agency said Tuesday.
It will cover overseas-issued documents submitted for both health insurance enrollment and dependent registration.
The move follows recent cases in which documents submitted by some foreign nationals were suspected of being forged, the NHIS said.
The agency has used official authentication, including apostilles, to check overseas-issued documents such as family and marriage certificates.
But differences in document formats and issuance and authentication procedures across countries, along with the growing use of remote submissions, have made it difficult to verify their authenticity.
The new system is intended to supplement existing checks by helping local offices manage and share verification records.
The NHIS also plans to work with the Ministry of Justice and other relevant agencies to improve verification methods.
The agency said it will inform applicants in advance of potential civil and criminal liability for submitting forged documents, in an effort to encourage accurate reporting of their eligibility.
hnpark@heraldcorp.com