Ministry of Employment and Labor (Image provided by Yonhap News)
SEOUL, January 22 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s artificial intelligence-powered labor law consultation service recorded more than 117,000 consultations last year, highlighting the growing demand for 24-hour guidance on wages, working hours and employment rights, the Ministry of Labor announced Wednesday.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the use of AI-based services will sharply increase in 2025. This is partly due to Danggeun Market’s integration with Danggeun Alba, a job matching platform, which has significantly expanded public access.
Since the service was integrated into the platform, the number of daily consultations has increased by 85.7%, from an average of 251 to 466. In January this year, the ministry announced that the number of consultations per day exceeded 1,000.
The service provides customized responses 24 hours a day, with an average response generated in approximately 3 seconds. Nearly 38% of consultations take place at night or on weekends, reflecting the demand of workers who are unable to visit or call labor offices during business hours.
The most common consultation topics included unemployment benefits, severance pay, employment contracts, and unpaid wages.
Inquiries in foreign languages accounted for 6.8% of total usage, highlighting the platform’s growing role among migrant workers, who often face barriers when accessing labor rights information.
The department announced that it will invest 2.8 billion won this year to improve the quality of the system and expand its scope of application. Planned upgrades include workplace harassment, workers’ compensation procedures, and employment permit systems.
The authorities also plan to link the AI service with the government’s labor portal, allowing users to submit formal complaints after consultation. Additional functionality allows workers to upload photos of their employment contracts and related documents, allowing the system to instantly identify potential legal violations.
The AI Labor Law Service is available for free on the ministry’s website.
“This is a digital public service that allows anyone to access customized labor law information anytime, anywhere,” said Lee Hyun-ok, director of labor policy at the ministry. “This year, we are significantly enhancing both its scope and capabilities to improve public awareness and ease of use.”
The initiative reflects the government’s broader push to use artificial intelligence to close gaps in access to critical public services, especially for vulnerable workers.
MH Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
