Establishment of a 'Multilingual Simultaneous Conversation System' at Seoul Subway Stations

Seoul Metro Corporation Establishes Korea's First 'Simultaneous Foreign Language Conversation System' at Subway Stations

Plans to Implement AI-Based Simultaneous Conversation System Amid Significant Increase in Foreign Passenger Numbers This Year

Pilot Operation at Myeongdong Station Starting November, Expanding to Five Stations Including Seoul Station and Itaewon Station Next Year

"Expecting Foreigners to Receive Subway Usage Information Quickly and Accurately"

Proposal for Building a Foreign Language Simultaneous Conversation (Speech Recognition and Translation) System

Seoul Metro Corporation (President Baek Ho) announced that, in response to the increase and diversification of foreign passengers this year, it plans to establish Korea's first AI-based 'Simultaneous Foreign Language Conversation (Speech Recognition and Translation) System' to provide a more convenient subway usage environment.

As of June this year, the average daily number of foreign passengers in Korea reached 12,729, an 898% increase compared to the first half of the previous year. Furthermore, with the government’s 'Visit Korea Year' campaign for 2023-2024 and the goal of attracting 30 million foreign tourists by 2027, it is expected that tourists of various nationalities will visit Korea.

This service will select a company through a performance-sharing participation method by the end of this month, followed by development and construction, with pilot operation starting in November.

The pilot operation will be conducted for four months at Myeongdong Station, which ranks first in foreign passenger transport this year, and will expand to five stations in 2024 (Seoul Station, Itaewon Station, Gimpo Airport Station, Gwanghwamun Station, and Hongdae Ipgu Station).

To build the system, the corporation is currently soliciting participating companies through a contract method based on performance sharing from August 4 to 5 PM on August 17.

The system will support more than 13 foreign languages (English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Hindi), enabling foreigners and station staff to engage in simultaneous conversations face-to-face in their respective native languages.

Baek Ho, President of Seoul Metro Corporation, stated, “With the establishment of Korea’s first 'Simultaneous Foreign Language Conversation System,' we expect foreigners of various nationalities to receive subway usage information quickly and accurately.” He added, “We will continue to do our best to ensure there are no shortcomings in our guidance services.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.