South Korean travelers became able Tuesday to pass through U.S. airports without face-to-face interviews with immigration officials.

The U.S. put the Smart Entry Service (SES) into operation for Koreans, making them eligible for automated immigration checks to save time and worries over a language barrier.

The users are allowed to pass the unmanned immigration check points, called KIOSK, at 25 airports in the U.S.

South Koreans age 17 or older with domestic identification cards and multiple-use passports can benefit from the system if they register with the SES at www.hikorea.go.kr.

They also need to register fingerprints and face information in advance.

People with U.S. citizenship, traveling from South Korea, can also use a separate immigration check system, dubbed the Global Entry Program (GEP).

The launch of the SES-GEP service came after more than a year of preparations. The two nations signed a deal on the program in

April last year.

Almost 2 million people shuttle between the two nations across the Pacific each year, according to government data.

South Korea is the third nation to join the system in the U.S. after the Netherlands and Canada.

(Yonhap)