The government will gradually restrict attaching HWP files on public-sector document distribution channels.

On Thursday, the National AI Strategy Committee said it decided the policy with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to accelerate a shift to open formats in the AI era.

Unlike HWPX, an open format, HWP is designed with a closed structure, drawing criticism that it is difficult for AI to analyse and learn from internal information. OpenAI recently said ChatGPT would support reading HWP files, but the government said structural limitations remain in terms of AI use.

The measure began after the committee's data subcommittee raised the view that HWP attachments should be banned at source in public-sector distribution channels. It held an emergency meeting chaired by Lim Moon-young (임문영), vice chair of the committee, on March 31 with relevant ministries and formally proposed the plan, and the two ministries drew up detailed measures about 20 days later.

The Onnara system, a drafting and distribution system for documents among public officials, will be expanded to cover local governments from May 18. Central government ministries mandated the use of HWPX in 2022. The interior ministry plans to consult Hancom to encourage automatic conversion and saving to HWPX when existing HWP files are rewritten or saved after edits. It is also pushing to switch to open files on Onmail, a communication tool for public officials, by October.

Lim said, "Starting with this measure, I will make sure to carry out small but big and fast-paced changes for public-sector data innovation in the AI era through cooperation with relevant ministries."