The Kangnam-gu office in southern Seoul will launch TV-based administrative services in April for the first time in the world.
According to the district office, it will gradually introduce electronic customized public services through television sets in 36 items of 12 civic services in cooperation with the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs.
The office said that the system will enable the middle aged and seniors, who are not familiar with the Internet, to have easy access to civil services through their television sets.
Residents in the district will be able to use the services for the issuance of civil documents and to take part in the policymaking processes of pending issues in the region on TV on real time without visiting the office.
The district authority said its services will include the issuances of documents, tax payment, surveys and video on demand (VOD) about district news on a trial basis until next April.
In June, in the second phase of the system, residents will be able to pay their taxes using their home TV.
Residents will be also able to use the system for the issuances of about 50 kinds of civil documents such as residence and property registration documents next August.
The office estimates that about 1.25 million civil document issuances and or 90 million won in tax payments will be made through TVs.
The government will offer the TV-based services to 4,000 households during the pilot programs and expand the service to 20,000 households by the end of next year.
“The launching of the TV-based services will raise the nation's status as one of the digital powers of `u-Korea' worldwide,” Kwon Moon-young, mayor of Gangnam-gu, said.
“The new services will be a cornerstone in setting up standardization of the system and legal grounds and to transfer newly acquired technologies to other municipal governments,” he added.
Autor: Chung Ah-young
Quelle: The Korea Times, 14.12.2005
