Operating from the first floor of the district office main building since Oct. 19, the AI guidance volunteer Oh Sa-rang helps visitors with civil affairs procedures and department locations — with voice recognition in Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese. Expansion to community centers and cultural facilities is under review depending on results.
Gangnam-gu has introduced a civil affairs guidance system that combines AI with 3D hologram technology.
Since Oct. 19, the lobby of the district office's main building has been staffed by Oh Sa-rang, an AI guidance volunteer rendered as a virtual human.
The system is straightforward to use. Visitors simply speak their question in front of the screen, and the AI recognizes it and responds conversationally, with answers displayed both as spoken audio and on-screen text. Frequently asked questions — civil affairs procedures, required documents, responsible departments and their locations — can all be answered on the spot.
Visitors can ask everyday questions such as "What do I need to register a marriage?" or "Where is the public health center?" The system is designed to spare visitors the inconvenience of walking between multiple departments or repeatedly asking staff the same questions, and is expected to ease the burden of routine, repetitive inquiries on district office employees.
Foreign visitors can use the system as well. In addition to Korean, it supports voice recognition in English, Japanese and Chinese, allowing non-Korean speakers to ask questions directly and get the information they need. The system operates from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays.
The project was carried out as part of the 2026 Public-Private Partnership Open Innovation Pilot Program. Gangnam-gu and Rainbow Company collaborated to apply private-sector AI and virtual-human technology to a real civil affairs setting. The district plans to use the pilot to assess user convenience and the technology's potential for broader administrative use.
The AI currently draws on information published on the Gangnam-gu district office and Gangnam-gu Public Health Center websites. The district plans to expand its knowledge base to include detailed civil affairs guidelines, and will analyze operating results to determine whether to roll the system out to community centers, cultural facilities and other public venues with high demand for guidance services.
"We introduced the AI civil affairs guidance system so that residents visiting the district office can easily and conveniently get the information they need," Gangnam-gu District Mayor Kim Hyun-ki said. "We will continue to actively apply AI in administrative settings to reduce inconvenience for residents and drive innovation in public services that people can actually feel."
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