KOMSCO has been involved in the design and manufacturing of the Korean passports since 1973. The design and security features of Korean passports have been changed several times from Machine Readable Passports (MRP: Photo Stick-in, Digitized Photo) to Biometric Passports.
Our abilities are based on our wide experience, knowledge and the special facilities to manufacture high-quality identity documents. We aim for perfection in security and quality management through our various anti-counterfeit technologies.
Our efforts have been rewarded with designation of e-Passport manufacturer and issuer by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Each passport is manufactured according to ICAO guidelines and international standard
KOMSCO’s Passports Production Capacity (as of Jan. 2009)
| Item | Field | Unit | Capacity | Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Month | Year | ||||
| e-Passports | Manufacturing | Thousand | 26.5 | 530 | 6,360 | 8 hours |
Security Features of the Passports
- Color Shifting Ink: The color of the Rose of Sharon changes from gold to green when it is viewed from a different angle.
- Micro Printing: Simple patterns can be identified as the words REPUBLIC OF KOREA when the patterns are magnified.
- Intaglio Latent Image: The word KOREA is revealed when it is viewed from a low angle.
- Infrared Ink: A part of the intaglio image becomes visible in black under infrared light.
- Solvent Sensitive Ink: If it is counterfeited by chemicals, the background color will change.
- Laser-perforation: The Inventory Control Number is created by perforating the documents with a conical laser, which is identical with the numbers printed on the data page.
- Security Thread: Security thread of passport paper can be added for the purpose of enhanced anti-counterfeiting measure.
- Ghost Image: The passport holder is revealed under ultraviolet light.
- Hologram: Transferable images and colors on data page will be changed when they are viewed from a different angle.
- Steganography: Hidden personalized information on photo is able to verify through specialized lens.
