AI to analyze national statistics on plain-language queries next year

A service that lets users ask questions in plain language and receive AI-generated charts and analysis drawn from national statistics will launch officially next year. The aim is to reduce the burden on users who previously had to locate, compare and process statistical tables themselves.

The Ministry of Statistics said Monday it had selected seven teams and 16 employees as recipients of its second Special Achievement Award of this year for their work on data and statistics service innovation, holding a ceremony to present a total of 66 million won ($49,400) in prize money.

The top recognized achievement is a generative AI-powered search and utilization service for the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS). A pilot has been running since July 8, and the ministry plans to refine it based on operational results and public feedback before launching it as a full service next year.

Previously, KOSIS users had to search for data themselves, then manually compare, process and analyze multiple statistical tables. The new service uses MCP, a technology that connects generative AI with external data sources. A user can, for example, ask the system to "create a table comparing the economically active population and the number of parental leave recipients from 2015 to 2024," and the service will return a chart and analysis based on national statistics from KOSIS.

The development of a "living population" indicator to assess the effects of a rural basic income pilot program also earned recognition. Going beyond the existing monthly, city- and county-level living population statistics, the team built a daily, neighborhood-level database of stay information along with detailed indicators and made them available to relevant policy ministries. The Ministry of Statistics said the work enables an objective analysis and evaluation of the program's effects and supports efforts to expand it nationwide.

A "regional supply and use table" showing the production and consumption structure of individual regions was also cited as a notable achievement. The statistics show what goods and services each region produces and what it imports from other regions or abroad; the ministry began publishing them in May. South Korea is only the second country in the world to publish such tables on a regular basis, after Canada. The data can serve as a foundation for regional industrial and economic policymaking.

Data analysis projects aimed at improving public safety were also among the honorees. In North Chungcheong Province, a team developed a precision geographic information system (GIS) analysis model at 50-meter resolution to guide crime-prevention patrols in high-risk areas and neighborhoods with concentrations of vulnerable residents. In Jangsu-gun, North Jeolla Province, spatial analysis and machine learning were used to identify optimal locations for wildfire-prevention CCTV cameras, with the findings submitted as a policy recommendation.

A service improvement that used AI to eliminate the risk of code failures — allowing all 16 national statistics data centers to operate around the clock rather than only during business hours — also received an award. Another recognized project involved developing a program that uses the public data portal's Open API to batch-check the operating status of businesses. The achievement streamlined the process of maintaining the business statistics registry, which had previously required direct lookups through the Hometax system, improving work efficiency and reducing costs.

The Special Achievement Award program was introduced to reward employees who deliver outstanding results, with the goal of raising the competitiveness of the public sector and the quality of services provided to the public. This year's recipients were selected through a review by a panel of citizens and employees, followed by a special achievement committee that included outside experts.

Ministry of Statistics Minister Ahn Hyung-jun said the ministry would "do its utmost to ensure that employees' innovation and dedication on behalf of the public are met with appropriate recognition, so that the Ministry of Statistics can always be an organization that makes a real difference in people's lives."