South Korea upgrades mobile welfare app to streamline field visits

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Thursday that it will upgrade the "Mobile Haengbogieum" system — a field-support tool for local government welfare civil servants — starting Friday.

Mobile Haengbogieum is the mobile version of the "Haengbogieum" system used by local government welfare civil servants to handle administrative tasks related to social security benefits. Despite its purpose, adoption among local governments had stalled at 25%, largely due to limited functionality and usability issues.

In response, the government strengthened features needed during field visits. Previously, civil servants had to print out recipient information and application forms at the office before heading out, then return to manually enter visit results into the system.

Under the upgraded system, civil servants will be able to look up recipient information directly through Mobile Haengbogieum, have AI automatically transcribe consultation notes, search complex welfare programs via a chatbot, and submit welfare service applications on the spot during field visits.

The user interface, which had been designed for desktop computers, will also be redesigned for mobile environments. New features including a schedule manager and a work dashboard will be added to help frontline civil servants make better use of the app.

"This upgrade will help create a field-centered work environment and contribute to improving the quality of welfare services provided to the public," said Park Chang-gyu, the Ministry of Health and Welfare's welfare administration support director.