South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said on Wednesday it held the launch ceremony for a "cross-government AX (AI transformation) consulting" programme at the Korea Institute for Healthy Family in Hapjeong-dong, Seoul. It said it is formally activating a cross-government cooperation framework.

Government ministries that handle policies closely tied to people's daily lives have a high need to introduce AI, but often struggle to execute due to a lack of specialised staff and experience, despite low AI utilisation. The ministry will support those agencies as an AX partner by providing resources such as AI experts.

Through the consulting, it will provide comprehensive support including identifying AX tasks and planning business models tailored to each agency, technical support such as using AI models and infrastructure, and regulatory consulting to secure AI safety and reliability. It previously received 39 task requests from 15 government institutions and selected 10 priority tasks for support based on criteria including perceived public impact and the usefulness of consulting.

Ahead of the event, Second Vice Minister Ryu Je-myeong (류제명) of the Ministry of Science and ICT and Vice Minister Jeong Gu-chang (정구창) of the Ministry of Gender Equality visited the Danuri Call Center and heard views from the field. The Danuri Call Center provides about 230,000 consultations a year around the clock in 13 languages.

Counsellors said using AI during times when staffing is limited could reduce their workload. They also conveyed expectations that AI could contribute to improved accuracy and professionalism in areas such as legal counselling.

The ministry said it plans to support proof-of-concept verification and commercialisation for strong tasks so the consulting does not remain a one-off advisory exercise and can take root in the field.

Ryu said, "Based on the AI capabilities we have built up so far, we will mobilise the AI resources held by the Ministry of Science and ICT and help through to the end so that all people can feel the benefits of AI in their daily lives."

Jeong said, "Through the 'Danuri Call Center AX advancement' task, we are expecting positive changes in various areas including shorter waiting times for consultations, strengthening a 24-hour response system, improving the quality of multilingual counselling, and reducing counsellors' workload."