Korea App Desk › 본인인증 explained

Identity verification

That 본인인증 screen: what it is and what to do

본인인증 means "identity verification". On most Korean apps it isn't an SMS code — it's a check that the phone number belongs to a person whose name and ID are registered with the mobile carrier. A visitor's foreign number, and even a prepaid tourist SIM, usually can't pass it.

SMS code vs. identity verification

There are two different screens, and mixing them up is where most guides go wrong.

An SMS code (인증번호) just proves you can receive texts on a number. A tourist SIM with a Korean 010 number usually handles this.

Identity verification (본인인증, often through carrier pages or the PASS app) checks your name, date of birth and ID against the phone contract. That needs a phone line registered in your own name with a Korean ID number — in practice, a resident with an Alien Registration Card or a Korean citizen.

• LG U+ says its visitor SIM with voice can be used for SMS verification on restaurant and taxi booking apps, but that identity verification for banking or government services is not supported.Source: LG U+ — Korea SIM for visitors · checked Oct 20, 2026
• Reported, not in an official notice yetA Bank of Korea report found that most Korean online platforms ask for verification through a Korean phone registered to a resident registration number — an industry practice rather than a legal requirement.Source: Korea JoongAng Daily via Daum, Jul 29, 2025 — Bank of Korea report on foreigners and online payments · checked Oct 20, 2026

Where you can get through without Korean ID

• Trains: the KORAIL foreign-language site lets you look up a booking with the email and password you entered when buying — no Korean ID number is mentioned. See Trains.Source: KORAIL — ticket types and ticketing guide · checked Oct 20, 2026
• Reported, not in an official notice yetFood delivery: Baemin lets visitors order as a non-member after an SMS check on an overseas number. See Delivery.Source: Kyunghyang Shinmun (Korean), Jul 29, 2026 — Seoul and Baemin campaign for foreign visitors · Youth Daily (Korean), Aug 5, 2026 — Baemin non-member ordering for foreigners · checked Oct 20, 2026
• Subway and bus: the T-money and Climate Card short-term passes need no account or verification at all. See T-money.Source: T-money — for foreign travelers · Seoul Metropolitan Government — Climate Card (English) · checked Oct 20, 2026

What not to do

Don't use someone else's phone or name to pass verification, even a friend's. It breaks the service's terms, the account legally belongs to them, and in Korea lending your identity for verification can get the owner into real trouble. If an app won't let you in, look for its foreign-visitor route on its page here, or use the alternative we list.

Related

• Korean phone numberWhat a visitor SIM or eSIM with a Korean 010 number can do (SMS codes for taxi and restaurant apps) and can't do (bank and government identity verification), from the carriers' own pages.
• Foreign cardsFew Korean online shops accept foreign cards. Where foreign cards are confirmed to work — subway ticket machines, KORAIL, SRT, Baemin — and what to use where they don't.
• NaverSince June 4, 2026 visitors can verify with a foreign passport to book, order and pay in Naver Map without a Korean number. What Naver’s Korean help pages say about overseas numbers, non-verified IDs and Naver Pay global members.