Part of a government push to expand AI-based digital public services; other private apps to follow with additional pension features
A woman who left the workforce to raise a family wanted to know how much she had paid into the national pension during her working years. Using Kakao's "AI National Secretary," she looked up her contribution period and total payments — and discovered she had not yet met the minimum 10-year enrollment requirement needed to receive a pension. With the AI assistant's help, she applied for voluntary enrollment so she could eventually qualify for benefits.
The Ministry of Interior and Safety announced Thursday that citizens can now access national pension services — including contribution history lookups and voluntary enrollment applications — quickly and easily through Kakao's AI National Secretary.
The ministry and the National Pension Service are opening four digital services through the platform: contribution history lookup, voluntary enrollment application, regional subscriber payment resumption reporting, and premium support application for low-income regional subscribers.
Voluntary enrollment allows people who are not required to join the national pension system to sign up of their own accord. Through the AI National Secretary, users can check their eligibility, look up premium amounts, and submit an enrollment application.
On KakaoTalk's AI National Secretary, the contribution history lookup service is available starting Thursday, with the voluntary enrollment application service to follow by the end of this month. The remaining two services — regional subscriber payment resumption reporting and premium support applications for low-income regional subscribers — will roll out starting in December through Woori Bank and other private apps.
Users can access the services by opening the AI National Secretary on KakaoTalk and typing requests in everyday language, such as "Look up my national pension enrollment history" or "I want to apply for voluntary national pension enrollment." For the contribution history service, users can view their total premium payments and the number of months they have contributed after completing identity verification.
"By offering public services as closely tied to people's lives as the national pension through Kakao's AI National Secretary, we have made it easier for citizens to access them," Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung said. "We will continue to focus all our efforts on expanding AI-based public services that make a real difference in people's lives, so that Korea can stand tall as the world's best 'AI democratic government.'"
thlee@heraldcorp.com
