AI to Power Interpretation at Multicultural Call Centers... Government-wide AX Consulting Officially Launched (Comprehensive)

Ten Priority Projects Selected, Including AI Introduction at Danuri Call Center
Support from AI Experts and More

The government is launching tailored consulting services to support the transition to artificial intelligence (AI) across its ministries.

On April 16, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it held the “Government-wide AX Consulting Kick-off Ceremony” at the Danuri Call Center of the Korea Healthy Family Promotion Agency in Mapo-gu, Seoul, and that it would formally initiate a collaborative system.

Ryu Jemyung, Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT (center), and Jung Guchang, Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family, are taking a commemorative photo on the afternoon of the 16th at the Danuri Call Center of the Korea Healthy Family Promotion Agency in Mapo-gu, Seoul, during the 'Government-wide AX Consulting Kickoff Ceremony.' In the front row from the third in front of the Ministry of Science and ICT are Park Yoonkyu, President of the National IT Industry Promotion Agency, Jung Guchang, Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family, Ryu Jemyung, Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, and Park Guyoun, Chairman of the Korea Healthy Family Promotion Agency.

Government ministries with limited experience in utilizing AI have often recognized the need to introduce AI, but have struggled to implement it due to a lack of specialized personnel and expertise. In response, the Ministry of Science and ICT plans to provide comprehensive consulting services, including: identifying AX projects and designing business models tailored to each ministry’s characteristics; offering technical support such as the use of AI models and infrastructure; and advising on regulatory matters to ensure AI safety and reliability. To this end, a total of 39 project requests were received from 15 government agencies in March.

The consulting will focus on 10 priority projects, selected based on the expected public impact and the effectiveness of the consulting. Among these, a project to introduce AI into counseling services for foreigners at the Danuri Call Center, operated by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, has also been chosen as a priority. This project aims to enhance the efficiency of multilingual counseling for foreigners through real-time AI translation and subtitles. It will also introduce automated classification of counseling types and an AI advisor.

The Danuri Call Center processes approximately 230,000 counseling requests annually, providing emergency support for victims of violence in multicultural families, family counseling, and comprehensive information in 13 languages—including Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian, and Mongolian—on a 24-hour basis. According to center officials, the call center handles an average of 700 to 800 calls per day. As the number of multicultural families increases, there are also growing requests for counseling in languages such as Arabic or Spanish, which are currently not supported by the call center.

Before the ceremony, Ryu Jemyung, Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, and Jung Guchang, Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family, visited the Danuri Call Center to listen to the counselors' concerns and discuss the introduction of AI. The counselors noted that AI assistance during times when staffing is limited, such as at night or on holidays, could help ease their workload. They also expressed hope that AI could improve the accuracy and professionalism of counseling, especially when complex legal knowledge is required.

Elsha, a counselor at the Danuri Call Center who is herself a migrant woman, said, “When I receive difficult questions related to visas or legal matters during counseling, it is hard to look up everything individually. After counseling, it is also cumbersome to classify and record counseling content by type. With the help of AI, I believe we could provide higher-quality counseling to multicultural families.”

Priority Support Also for Libraries, Fire Agency, and More

Other priority projects include: expanding the construction and opening of AI learning datasets for libraries (National Library of Korea); AI-based services to find nearby hospitals and pharmacies (Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service); building an AI-based government-wide telephone counseling hub system (Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission); establishing an AI-based system to secure golden time in firefighting and enhance national safety response (National Fire Agency); developing an AI-based environmental impact assessment system (National Institute of Environmental Research); building AI for Korea’s biodiversity (National Institute of Biological Resources); introducing an AI-OCR system for catastrophic medical expense support (National Health Insurance Service); advancing AI-based intelligent maritime traffic information systems (Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries); and creating a smart forest management testbed based on physical AI (Korea Forest Service).

Lee Hyunju, Director of the Digital Information Planning Division at the National Library of Korea, said, “We have original digital images of the materials held by the National Library of Korea, and we are seeking to convert these into datasets for AI learning and open them up, ultimately connecting them to intelligent services. We need consulting on data diagnosis and ways to enhance usability for building learning datasets.”

During the subsequent discussion, relevant ministries shared concerns about the challenges faced in the planning process, such as standardizing vast datasets and reviewing the legal and ethical validity of introducing AI. The private advisory panel discussed the direction of consulting, including legal and technical considerations for each ministry and how to design business models to address field needs.

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to ensure that this consulting does not remain a one-time advisory service, but instead supports technology verification (Proof of Concept, PoC) and commercialization through coordination with relevant ministries for outstanding projects.

Ryu Jemyung, Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, “Building on our accumulated AI capabilities, we will listen to the voices in the field and mobilize all AI resources available at the Ministry of Science and ICT so that every citizen can experience the benefits of AI in daily life.” Jung Guchang, Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family, stated, “Through the Danuri Call Center AX advancement project, we expect to see positive changes in various aspects, such as reducing counseling wait times, strengthening the 24-hour response system, improving the quality of multilingual counseling, and alleviating counselors’ work burden.”

Ryu Jemyung, Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, is speaking at the 'Intergovernmental AX Consulting Kick-off Ceremony' held on the afternoon of the 16th at the Danuri Call Center of the Korea Healthy Family Promotion Institute in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Ministry of Science and ICT

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