Gov't to train 20,000 AI specialists, expand resident-led projects to W3tr

The government plans to introduce a one-stop service for handling complex civil complaints in a single visit and significantly expand dedicated staffing for civil affairs.

Resident-proposed projects will be scaled up to 3 trillion won ($2.1 billion) by 2030 to drive locally led growth, while the social solidarity economy's share will be raised to 7 percent by the same year.

The ministry will also build a precision disaster prediction model by training AI on 150,000 flood and storm damage records, as part of a push toward field-oriented disaster management.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety unveiled these key initiatives Wednesday at its "Government and People Together" work report, outlining priority tasks for the second half of the year that citizens will be able to feel directly.

Among the specifics, the ministry will pilot an "automatic benefit application service" this year that uses AI to automatically apply for various government benefits on behalf of eligible citizens.

To advance popular sovereignty in policymaking, the ministry will launch two public deliberation platforms — a structured debate forum and an open civic square — and pursue legislation for a basic civic participation law.

To build a capable government that meets public expectations, the ministry will streamline its organization through joint public-private institutional reviews, expand its AI-powered work management platform OnAI to 47 central administrative agencies, and train 20,000 AI specialists in the public sector by 2030.

The ministry will also work to establish accountable local governance and invigorate the social solidarity economy.

To help the ninth round of elected local governments lead locally driven growth alongside residents, resident-proposed projects will be expanded to 3 trillion won by 2030.

A local administration monitoring corps will be established to let residents directly oversee local governance and participate in policymaking, while reforms to the resident recall system and stronger support for resident-initiated ordinances will also be pursued.

To energize the social solidarity economy, the ministry will finalize legislation for a basic social solidarity economy law and raise the sector's share to 7 percent by 2030 through youth work-experience programs, the creation of youth villages, and the expansion of solar-income communities.

To strengthen local fiscal foundations and inject new vitality into regional economies, the ministry will pursue fiscal decentralization targeting a 7-to-3 ratio of national to local taxes. It will also expand the issuance of local love gift certificates from 24 trillion won this year to 31.2 trillion won by 2030 to build self-sustaining regional economies.

The ministry will tighten the national safety net by upgrading AI-based safety systems and strengthening on-the-ground disaster management.

It will advance a science-based disaster safety management framework, including building a precision prediction model by training AI on 150,000 flood and storm damage records.

Amid unprecedented heat waves, cooling shelters for vulnerable groups will be expanded, water safety personnel will be increased to 5,831 for the summer season, and free life jacket rental stations will grow to 606 locations to prevent water accidents.

To improve pedestrian safety for children, 148 school commute routes near elementary schools will be intensively upgraded, and high-strength bollards to prevent vehicle ramming incidents will be piloted.

In pursuit of a fair and just society through national normalization, the government will move swiftly to revoke state commendations awarded to perpetrators of fabricated espionage cases and state violence, and will issue official apologies for human rights abuses including those at the Seonggam Academy.

The ministry will continue clearing illegal structures along rivers and valleys and removing defamatory banners, expand local tax delinquency management units nationwide, and root out fiscal leakage and unfair contracting through inspections of improper local subsidy claims and the elimination of shell companies.

"In the first half of this year, we ran at full speed to enhance the safety and happiness of all citizens and breathe new life into the regions — enacting the Basic Life Safety Act, disbursing the high oil price victim support fund, and launching the South Jeolla Province-Gwangju integrated special city," Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung said. "In the second half, the ministry will continue to deliver concrete results — realizing an AI democratic government, invigorating the social solidarity economy and laying the groundwork for a basic society, and successfully launching the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency — to firmly support a 'one-of-a-kind Korea' under a government of popular sovereignty," he added.