Civil Complaints and Public Required Documents Are Disappearing... Expanded to 120 Items

Ministry of the Interior and Safety Accelerates 'Zero Required Documents'
One-Stop Administrative Service... Seal System Also Reformed

The government is accelerating the 'zero required documents' initiative, which allows citizens to apply for civil complaints and public services without submitting information already held by the government. It plans to apply this to a total of about 420 civil complaints and public services within the year, having expanded to 120 areas as of early April. The government aims to expand this to about 1,500 types over the next three years.

On the afternoon of the 2nd, the government held a follow-up meeting to review the implementation progress after the 'social sector' public discussion chaired by President Yoon Seok-yeol at the Government Complex Sejong. On this day, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety reported on the status of implementing the 'one-stop administrative service,' which will eliminate required documents for 1,498 civil complaints and public service applications and improve the seal certificate system by 2026. This was an agenda item discussed at the seventh public discussion in January. As of this date, the zero required documents policy is applied to 120 services, and 274 out of 2,145 tasks that previously required unnecessary seal certificates have been reorganized.

In particular, prenatal health management services can now be used without submitting a resident registration certificate, and food hygiene business name changes can be processed without a seal certificate. Additionally, family communication plan discounts can be applied for without a family relation certificate. Other services where zero document measures have been completed include paid sick leave support for workers, public utility fee support for small business owners, vaccination cost support, school enrollment congratulatory payments, scholarships for low-income families, welcome support payments for newly moved-in households, and mobility support for transportation-vulnerable groups.

The government plans to add zero document measures to 321 more services by the end of the year and aims to complete zero required documents for all services by 2026.

Previously, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced a 'digital innovation plan to protect citizens' rights,' centered on the 'zero required documents' policy. This aims to eliminate the inconvenience of separately submitting documents from other agencies for identity verification, breaking down barriers between ministries to link and share data. The seal certificate, which previously required in-person issuance, will also see many related tasks eliminated or alternative methods provided.

The reform of the seal certificate system, used as a personal identity verification method since 1914, is also accelerating. The revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Seal Certificate Act will be completed by April, followed by system development, and from September, online issuance will begin on Government24. During this period, a pilot service for joint use of seal information during real estate registration will be launched at some registry offices, with plans to expand the service to all registry offices starting January next year.