[Provided by Seoul Metropolitan Government]
[Provided by Seoul Metropolitan Government]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Friday that it launched a mobile welfare eligibility verification service through its "Seolon" app on Tuesday, allowing residents to receive public facility fee discounts without carrying a welfare card or paper certificate.

The city said the service is designed to eliminate the inconvenience of residents having to repeatedly present welfare cards or various certificates in person. Seolon is Seoul's mobile administrative services platform, with about 390,000 registered members and approximately 1.1 million cumulative visitors.

The service covers six welfare categories: people with disabilities, veterans, single-parent families, basic livelihood recipients, the near-poor and residents aged 65 and older. With the new service, roughly one in three Seoul residents will be able to verify their welfare eligibility through Seolon and receive fee discounts at public facilities.

Once eligibility is confirmed, users can present the Seolon mobile verification screen for 90 days to receive discounts at 14 major public facilities, including Seoul Grand Park, Seoul Botanic Park, city-operated public parking lots, the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts and Han River parks.

Previously, even though city agencies already held the relevant information, residents still had to obtain welfare cards or certificates separately and present them on-site. The city said it resolved this inconvenience by building a system that allows instant welfare eligibility verification on Seolon through shared administrative data.

The city also revamped Seolon's home screen and expanded its digital certificate service to coincide with the launch. In addition, the city is holding a public participation event through Aug. 20 to mark the app's redesign and the new welfare verification service. Participants will be entered into a draw for prizes including mobile gift vouchers and coffee coupons.

"We will continue to expand everyday digital administration centered on Seolon, where residents are the first to feel the change," said Jeong Yeong-jun, director of Seoul's Digital City Bureau.


ken@heraldcorp.com