The introduction of a vaccine passport has become a hot topic around the world as the COVID-19 vaccine is being given out to many people. Vaccine passports refer to the concept of a certificate that allows free movement between countries if the holder has been vaccinated against COVID-19. Following Iceland's issuance of the world's first vaccination certificate on January 26^th, 2021, Israel introduced a vaccination certificate called "Green Pass." Many countries and air travel organizations such as China, the European Union (EU), and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) are also working towards such a system. Amid a growing number of countries and organizations introducing vaccine passports internationally, the introduction of vaccine passports has also been suggested in Korea recently. On April 1^st, former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said, "In Korea, it is a system that can check whether or not a person inoculated not only in Korea but also abroad in the form of an application using blockchain technology." Those in favor of the introduction of the vaccine passport in Korea expect that it will greatly contribute to the safety of the people in Korea and the revitalization of the domestic economy and make it easier for the government to manage infectious disease prevention and control it effectively. On the other hand, opponents argue that the introduction could cause inequality, be ineffective and hinder existing infectious disease prevention and control measures. Should vaccine passports be introduced in Korea? Let's take a closer look at the arguments on both sides, pros and cons, and think about it.

A few months have passed since the vaccination against COVID-19 started, and countries like Israel are expected to reach herd immunity soon due to their high rate of COVID-19 vaccinations. Therefore, discussions have begun to arise that vaccination should be proven if the person wants to travel abroad, and the introduction of a "vaccine passport" has been actively discussed around the world. The Korean government is also positively considering this. Former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said at a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on April 1^st, "The government has already completed development of a system to prove vaccination on smartphones, and it will be officially opened." On April 16^th, the application launched on the Apple Appstore. Amid the growing number of countries introducing vaccine passports, vaccine passports should also be introduced and actively used in Korea for three reasons:

  First, if a vaccine passport is introduced, it can greatly contribute to the safety of the people. If vaccine passports are used in public places such as schools, institutions, and medical facilities, all residents or visitors in the building can know they are in a space safe from the virus. According to The Korea Economic Daily, if more people want to get a vaccine passport for this reason, it could be an incentive to get vaccinated. In fact, countries that already have introduced vaccine passports have significantly increased their vaccination rate for the COVID-19 vaccine compared to before the introduction of vaccine passports. According to the international statistics website Our World in Data, Israel, which introduced the vaccine passport "Green Pass" in February, had a 35% rate of people who had received at least one shot, on January 30^th before introducing Green Pass but achieved 55.5% on March 2^nd, a month after the introduction of the Pass. Iceland, which introduced the world's first vaccine passport in January this year, also saw a steep rise in vaccination rate after the introduction of the vaccine passport and the introduction would affect for this. It was only 1.43% as of December 30^th last year, but after introducing the vaccine passport in January, it recorded 3.55% on February 3^rd, 10.01% on March 15^th, and 32.29% on May 3^rd. In addition, Denmark, which introduced its vaccine passport in April, saw its vaccination rate soar more than once from 12.81% as of March 31^st to 24.43% as of May 4^th. The introduction of a vaccine passport in Korea will greatly contribute to improving the safety of the people, given that the introduction of a vaccine passport can motivate people to vaccinate.

  Second, the introduction of vaccine passports will help boost the domestic economy. If a vaccine passport is introduced, it can also have the effect of revitalizing the domestic economy, because free movement in Korea would be guaranteed. In fact, the national economy has been revitalized in countries that have already introduced vaccine passports in earnest. Among them, Israel introduced a vaccine passport called "Green Pass," which allows Israelis to enter public places such as gyms, hotels, theaters, concert halls, and restaurants that are not open to the unvaccinated. In addition, free movement between countries is guaranteed only for those vaccinated. The Israeli government has signed agreements with the governments of Greece, Cyprus, and Georgia to allow Israelis with green passes to enjoy touring without any burden of quarantine if they arrive in those countries. The Guardian reported that Israel's economy has not yet been fully normalized, but it is getting closer, adding that the economic stimulus effect is gradually coming as stores that were closed are reopened and hotels are rebooked. If movement between countries would be free, trade, which has been stagnant due to the COVID-19, will activate. Iceland, which introduced the world's first vaccine passport in January, also allowed vaccine passport holders from some European countries and the U.S. to enter the country. By doing so, the government decided to gradually revive the tourism industry to revitalize their domestic economy. According to the Chosun Ilbo, Iceland's Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir said, “Vaccine passports are essential to giving valuable mobility opportunities to culture, trade, and companies,” hinting that vaccine passports play a key role in revitalizing the national economy.

  Third, the introduction of vaccine passports in Korea would make it easier to effectively manage COVID-19. The vaccine passport program, which has recently been developed by the government, is the digitalization of vaccination certificates. The name is "COVID-19 vaccination certification system" and it cannot yet be used internationally like passports. Blockchain Labs, which donated technology to the government to develop the vaccine passport application, proved the management efficiency of the application. According to Blockchain Labs, the system in the form of electronic documents using mobile apps and QR codes is a digital certificate that proves the vaccination of COVID-19. It contains personal information needed to enter and leave the country such as names, dates of birth, nationality, and passport number. It is also used to recall individual vaccination records stored in electronic document form in dedicated mobile apps through QR code scans. The QR code contains the date, number, country, institution of inoculation, and the type of vaccine (manufacturer), which provide the unique number (lot number) as essential information. Blockchain-based vaccine passports can fully protect privacy by storing data distributedly and recalling only the needed information using DID[1] technology. This makes it impossible to forge or modify data and leaves no history of use on the server. According to the government, the application was scheduled to be officially opened in April. However, the application was not uploaded on the Google Play Store even though the development was completed, so it was not officially opened as of May 18^th. In addition to COVID-19 vaccination certification, it can be used as a certification system for other purposes, including age, and it can function as a certificate to go overseas due to its high technology compatibility. According to The Korea Economic Daily, the application was created using infrastructure blockchain technology, which can be operated as a public blockchain structure that can be used by anyone without issuing cryptocurrency, enabling efficient management at the national level.

The need for tools to certify that vaccinated people are relatively free to travel within a country and abroad has been raised. As a result, many countries, including Iceland and Israel, have introduced vaccine passports and are seeing positive results such as revitalizing the domestic economy. It is desirable to introduce vaccine passport in Korea because it will have the effect of promoting public safety, revitalizing the domestic economy, and efficient management of infectious disease prevention and control in the country. In Korea, vaccine passports should also be properly introduced so that people can recover their daily lives after the COVID-19 pandemic.