South Korea plans to fingerprint visitors

The South Korean authorities could fingerprint and photograph foreign visitors from 2012, the Korea Times reported on Tuesday.

Barring diplomats and government operatives, all visitors over the age of 17 could have their fingerprints scanned and photo taken, said the article.

The Korean Cabinet has approved the Bill, which will be voted on by the National Assembly this month.

Should the plans go ahead, Korea will discuss sharing the data with the US, which operates a similar system. Japan also collects visitors' biometrics.