Promotion of Enactment of the "Social Disaster Management Act"... Recommendation for "Administrative System Reform" to be Announced This Month

Unpredictable Social Disasters, Proactive Preparedness to Be Strengthened
Policies Tailored for Vulnerable Groups, Including Children, Seniors, and Foreigners
Responding to Local Extinction... Improving Fund Execution Rates
'Comprehensive Plan for the Great AI Transformation in the Public Sector' to Be Established in the First Half of the Year

The government is promoting the enactment of the 'Social Disaster Management Act' to establish a proactive preparedness system for social disasters that have occurred consecutively, such as the Itaewon tragedy and the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster. The recommendations of the private advisory committee, established to reorganize the administrative system in celebration of the 30th anniversary of elected local autonomy, will be announced within this month.

On the 14th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) announced the '2025 Major Work Plan of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety,' which includes these details. The MOIS work plan is composed of four core tasks: ▲Public Safety ▲Local Era ▲Digital Government ▲Social Integration.

Jung Young-jun, Director General of Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (left), is giving a joint pre-briefing presentation on the 2025 major work plan of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the afternoon of the 13th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Provided by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety

MOIS will first focus on its key functions of public safety and disaster response policies. Unlike natural disasters, social disasters are difficult to predict, so the ministry plans to systematically manage them and strengthen proactive preparedness by promoting the enactment of the 'Social Disaster Management Act (tentative name).' The act will impose obligations on responsible agency heads to establish and maintain preparedness and include provisions for the MOIS minister to organize and operate policy consultative bodies by disaster type.

Jung Young-jun, Director General of Planning and Coordination at MOIS, explained, "We will convert disaster cause investigations into a continuous preliminary investigation system to significantly reduce investigation periods and enhance expertise. We will also restructure the R&D framework in the disaster safety field to rapidly develop technologies needed at disaster sites."

Policies tailored to protect vulnerable groups for public safety have also been devised. To ensure children's safety, a 'Children's Walking App' will be pilot-operated from May next year. It will display danger warning messages to children using smartphones while walking and encourage them to refrain from usage. For the elderly, safety guidelines for safe elevator use will be produced and distributed, and senior elevator safety assistants will be deployed. To improve disaster response for foreigners, the languages provided for disaster messages in the current 'Emergency Ready' app will be expanded to 19, including Russian, French, and Arabic.

Establishing a disaster management system that operates on the ground at local governments and other sites is also a goal. The Youth Autonomous Disaster Prevention Corps will be expanded nationwide to strengthen collaboration among local governments, towns/townships/neighborhoods, and the private sector, establishing a field-centered disaster management system. Information from 112 and 119 emergency calls will also be shared in real-time with local government situation rooms, with pilot operation starting in the second half of this year. Disaster messages will be expanded from the existing 90 characters to 157 characters to provide more detailed information.

This year, marking the 30th anniversary of elected local autonomy, support will be spared to fully start the local era. The goal for rapid execution of local finances in the first half of the year is set at 60.5%, amounting to 170 trillion won, to stimulate the regional economy, and local regulations will also be improved.

The recommendations of the private advisory committee for the administrative system reorganization, named the 'Future-Oriented Administrative System Reorganization Advisory Committee,' will be announced within this month. Director Jung added, "Once the recommendations are announced, MOIS will receive and review them, proceed through sufficient opinion gathering, and then implement them." Additionally, institutional improvements such as expanding authority transfer and revitalizing councils will be promoted to facilitate the establishment of special local governments like the Chungcheong Regional Union. A bottom-up special case granting system will also be newly established to discover and propose special cases desired by cities and provinces.

To overcome the crisis of local extinction, the execution rate of the currently operated Local Extinction Response Fund will be increased to strengthen its substance. The fund management system, scheduled to open in the first half of the year, will enhance real-time execution monitoring of the fund management associations. The fund allocation method will also change. Whereas it was previously centered on investment plans and new project discovery, it will now focus on the effects and outcomes of fund input.

To ensure stable local financial management, the establishment of the 'Integrated Fiscal Stabilization Fund' will be made mandatory. This is to enable local governments to respond to changes in fiscal conditions such as tax revenue fluctuations. Furthermore, a comprehensive survey of public properties will be conducted to ensure local governments utilize public properties without omission.

Policies related to 'Digital Government,' such as digitalization of administrative services and improvement of service disruptions, will also be steadily promoted. First, to fully introduce artificial intelligence (AI) in the public sector, the 'Comprehensive Plan for the Great AI Transformation in the Public Sector (Gov AX)' will be established in the first half of this year, and the Data-Based Administrative Act will be amended. This will include AI impact assessments, ethical principles, and promotion of AI literacy utilization. A government-wide AI common infrastructure will be built to prevent overlapping development and standardize AI introduction by agencies. Through this, government-wide AI utilization services will be expanded next year.

The foundation for mobile ID cards and zero-document public service policies, which began last year, will be broadened. The mobile resident registration card service, piloted last month in nine local governments, will be fully launched nationwide in the first half of the year, allowing issuance and use anywhere in the country through private apps. The zero-document public service will expand from 421 services last year to 900 services this year, and the target will be expanded to allow businesses to use MyData services.

MOIS will strive to revise the Government Organization Act to establish the Population Strategy Planning Department (Population Department) and strengthen organizations promoting population policies and work-family balance policies by ministry. Director Jung said, "Currently, the Government Organization Act amendment is pending in the National Assembly and under committee discussion, so it is difficult to specify the launch timing," but added, "We will actively work to expedite National Assembly deliberations and enable the Population Department to launch."

In the social integration sector, MOIS will play a role in leading national unity on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of liberation. This year's 80th Liberation Day ceremony will be held as a 'Festival of National Unity,' reflecting this meaning. The sale points for the Taegeukgi (Korean national flag) will be expanded to convenience stores and large marts where they can be easily found, and various national symbol motif designs will be developed.

Acting Minister of the Interior and Safety Ko Ki-dong emphasized, "This year, due to changes in the domestic and international environment, continued low birth rates, and regional extinction risks, policy uncertainty is expected to increase," adding, "MOIS, as a central ministry responsible for both central and local governments and public safety, will steadfastly maintain its role at the center of state affairs and do its best to promote policies for the peaceful daily lives of the people."

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