Gyeonggi-do, First Nationwide to Conduct 'Administrative Appeals' via Electronic Documents... Saving 100 Million KRW Budget

Oh Byung-kwon, the First Deputy Governor of Gyeonggi Province, is presiding over the Administrative Appeals Committee meeting. Photo by Gyeonggi Provincial Government

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province will conduct administrative appeals using electronic documents for the first time nationwide. This is expected to reduce the budget spent on printing and mailing, while also providing search functions, making it easier to review case documents.

On the 5th, Gyeonggi Province held the 34th Administrative Appeals Committee meeting chaired by First Deputy Governor Oh Byung-kwon, conducting the first meeting among local governments to replace all documents with electronic documents instead of paper.

Previously, the province converted all existing appeal materials provided to administrative appeals committee members from paper to electronic documents.

While the Central Administrative Appeals Committee handles petition delivery electronically and the Gyeongbuk Administrative Appeals Committee conducts electronic hearings, Gyeonggi Province is the first local government to fully digitize the process from delivery to hearing.

The provincial administrative appeals committee plans to pilot electronic delivery and hearings until the end of this year and fully switch to electronic documents starting January next year.

The reason for switching to electronic documents is that they excel in terms of budget, time, and convenience.

The administrative appeals committee currently creates booklets of necessary documents for case hearings and mails them to committee members, costing about 100 million KRW annually for printing and postage. Storage space is also a significant concern.

However, converting these to electronic documents will save printing and postage costs, as well as time and space related to mailing. Additionally, materials needed for appeals can be delivered quickly to members, allowing for more thorough hearings.

Furthermore, digitizing administrative appeal materials enables searching for similar cases, making it more convenient for committee members to utilize the data.

The province plans to start by providing electronic documents to administrative appeals committee members, then convert and provide administrative appeal materials sent to each city and county electronically, and gradually introduce electronic documents to citizens requesting administrative appeals.

Oh Byung-kwon, First Deputy Governor of Gyeonggi Province, emphasized, "Please make full use of the many advantages of digitizing administrative appeal documents to ensure that both citizens and local governments are satisfied with the appeals process," adding, "The digitization process must be carried out diligently to avoid any inconvenience or omissions."

Meanwhile, last year, the number of administrative appeals processed in the province was 1,808, accounting for 24.8% of the nationwide city and province cases (7,284 cases).