Hwaseong City Delivers First Results of 'AI Civil Servant' Promise…AI Now Handles After-Hours and Holiday Calls

Hwaseong Special City has launched an 'AI On-Duty Bot' service on the 19th, where artificial intelligence receives citizen complaint calls that come in during nights and holidays before they reach human operators. The service has been implemented across the duty rooms at City Hall and four district offices—Manse, Hyohaeng, Byeongjeom, and Dongtan—making it a leading case among Korea's basic local governments to convert after-hours call response to AI. Mayor Jeong Myeong-keun's campaign promise of 'AI Civil Servant Coribot Deployment' announced during the June 3 local elections has entered its first execution phase just three and a half months after taking office.

Previously, one or two on-duty staff members handled both repetitive citizen complaints—such as parking violation reports and animal carcass notifications—as well as emergency response and facility patrols. The AI On-Duty Bot handles citizen inquiries at the first stage, and when action is needed, it can transmit the reported details via text to field staff. This reduces the burden on on-duty staff from taking down complaints or repeatedly explaining issues over the phone. With the launch of four district offices in February this year, the number of duty rooms increased to five, heightening the need for a consistent guidance system.

The AI On-Duty Bot operates from 6 p.m. on weekdays through 9 a.m. the next day, and 24 hours on weekends and public holidays. Citizens calling the main citizen hotline 1577-4200 during these hours will have AI answer first. When citizens explain their situation in their normal manner of speaking, the AI On-Duty Bot understands the content, provides information, and registers the complaint. Guidance information such as relevant department contact numbers is sent via text, making it convenient to review after the call ends. Call contents are displayed in real-time on the on-duty staff's computer screen, allowing them to immediately assess how to proceed.

The response system has been designed based on 44 duties in the on-duty work guidelines, encompassing 100 scenarios across various fields including environment, animals, facilities, parking, and emergency situations. For emergencies such as fires or crimes, the AI On-Duty Bot prioritizes guidance to call 119 or 112 before immediately connecting to an on-duty staff member. The AI On-Duty Bot proceeds with necessary guidance and complaint registration first, and connects citizens to on-duty staff when staff judgment or action is needed or when citizens request to speak with an employee.

This implementation also carries significance as the mayor's first campaign promise fulfillment. During his re-election bid, Mayor Jeong presented five major campaign promises, including deploying Coribot, Korea's first AI administrative assistant customized for Hwaseong City to provide 24-hour citizen services; ▲AI Civil Servant Coribot Deployment ▲Establishing a citizen cooperation body 'Hwaseong Together Organization' ▲Continuous issuance of one trillion won in regional currency ▲Expansion of metropolitan and express bus services ▲Construction of Hwaseong Ring Railway. Coribot is designed to automate administrative tasks including citizen response, document creation, and policy information provision, thereby enhancing civil servant work efficiency and reducing citizen wait times.

The city has already organized to fulfill these campaign promises. Hwaseong City recently established an AI Civil Servant Task Force team within its AI Smart Strategy Office, and in a personnel reshuffle in July, appointed Park Cha-su as head of the AI Civil Servant Task Force. By establishing this organization separately from the existing AI Strategy Team to focus solely on 'AI Civil Servant' deployment, the campaign pledge has evolved from mere declaration into a city policy project with dedicated personnel and promotion systems.

The AI On-Duty Bot is the first step. By essentially 'deploying' AI for after-hours and holiday duty calls—the area with the clearest demand and least on-site resistance—the city has created a division of labor structure where human on-duty staff can concentrate on patrols and emergency response. Aligned with Mayor Jeong's vision as a candidate for 'AI Hub Hwaseong' (attracting AI data centers and Google AI demonstration campuses), there are expectations that the response data accumulated from the duty bot will serve as a foundation for expanding AI across citizen service centers and departments.

Hwaseong City conducted pilot operations starting in September, refining scenarios, and from September 14-18, just before implementation, conducted citizen surveys at the Policy Plaza. After launching operations, the city plans to conduct satisfaction surveys through November 18 to reflect citizen opinions and improve the service, while also providing usage guidance through the Hwaseong City website and outdoor digital displays. In addition to Korean, the service supports English, Chinese, and Japanese responses to assist foreign residents with after-hours and holiday citizen inquiries. Call contents are recorded and personal information is managed in accordance with relevant laws.

Mayor Jeong Myeong-keun of Hwaseong City stated, "The AI On-Duty Bot is a service designed to allow citizens to receive necessary citizen guidance promptly even late at night or on holidays. By having AI handle repetitive citizen guidance and allowing staff to focus on emergency response, we will enhance both citizen convenience and administrative responsiveness."