279 people from 42 countries put their fingerprint analysis skills to the test in contest co-hosted by National Police Agency and INTERPOL

[Financial News] The international fingerprint analysis competition, which drew 279 participants from 42 countries around the world, was jointly hosted by the National Police Agency and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
The National Police Agency said on the 15th that it had held the 3rd International Fingerprint Analysis Competition (IFEC) on the 17th of last month.
A total of 279 people took part in the competition: 84 from South Korea and 195 from 41 countries overseas. Participants from South Korea included police forensic investigators, regular police officers, maritime police officers and students in related fields.
The competition was held without a separate fingerprint analysis system. Participants had to find, among 50 options, the fingerprint matching the one provided in each question. There were 20 questions, with points allotted according to difficulty. In particular, half the points for a question were deducted for each incorrect answer to assess the accuracy of the analysis.
In the domestic division, Kim Chae-won, a career specialist with the National Police Agency’s Forensic Science Analysis Division, took first place. Kim is an expert with 5 years and 10 months of experience in fingerprint analysis and earned the agency’s fingerprint examiner certification in 2022. Inspector Kim Gyeong-yeop of the Criminal Affairs Division of the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency placed second, while Inspector Lee Han-sae of the Forensic Science Division of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency came third.
Inspector Kim has 10 years of experience in fingerprint analysis and also placed first in the domestic division at the first competition, held in 2024.
In the overseas division, Roberto Cardia of Italy’s Carabinieri, who has 21 years and 3 months of experience in fingerprint analysis, took first place. Nilton Claudio de Oliveira and Paola Habelu Vieira of Brazil’s Federal District Police placed second and third, respectively.
Career specialist Kim said, “I took part to objectively assess my abilities as a practitioner, and it was a meaningful opportunity to tackle challenging problems based on fingerprints similar to those submitted in actual cases,” adding that they would continue to develop their expertise.
The International Fingerprint Analysis Competition was first held in 2024 and has been jointly run by the National Police Agency and INTERPOL since last year. This year, the competition used INTERPOL’s official logo for the first time since its launch.
The National Police Agency said the competition provided an opportunity for fingerprint experts from different countries to share their skills and experience and expand international cooperation.
Lee Mi-kyung, the National Police Agency’s forensic science review officer, said, “The third competition this year is significant because it consolidated our co-hosting system with INTERPOL, further strengthening our expertise and international credibility.”
The awards ceremony for the winners will be held at the 12th International CSI Conference, taking place at COEX in Magok, Seoul, on the 4th and 5th of next month.

[email protected] Kim Ye-ji Reporter