2715 Items Lost Daily... "Use 'FindingAll' Before Losing Them"

FindingAll QR Code Sticker Use Case. Provided by Sejong Telecom.

As of July this year, a total of 4,955,141 lost items have been reported to the National Police Agency over the past five years, showing an increasing trend each year. On average, about 990,000 items are lost annually, which translates to approximately 2,715 items losing their owners every day. In particular, it was found that about 1,228,000 lost items occurred last year alone. By region, Seoul recorded the highest number with 369,947 cases, followed by Gyeonggi with 249,420 cases, and Busan with 125,747 cases.

On the other hand, during the same period, the number of lost items returned to their owners was 2,950,429, which is about 60%. This means that 4 out of 10 lost items fail to find their owners. Lost items that cannot be returned to their owners are kept for six months according to the law, after which they are either sold, donated to charitable organizations, or discarded.

Except for Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, the proceeds from the sale of ownerless lost items nationwide are all credited to the national treasury. Based on the number of lost items over the past five years, approximately 17.6 billion KRW has been contributed to the national treasury.

One of the reasons why returning lost items is difficult is the inconvenience of having to call multiple institutions such as the police, lost and found centers, transportation corporations, airlines, and hotels when an item is lost. The more unclear the location where the item was lost, the greater the time and economic losses involved in returning the lost item.

Although the number of lost items is increasing over time, the return rate is decreasing, highlighting the need for services that can actively contribute to the return of lost items.

Sejong Telecom’s ‘FindingAll,’ the nation’s first integrated lost item management service launched last October, is expected to be helpful. Combining blockchain and AI technology, ‘FindingAll’ analyzes images of found items using AI technology and compares them in real-time with lost items to provide users with the most suitable matching information. A key advantage is that it allows direct contact between the finder and the owner through real-time notifications and chat during matching.

QR code stickers can also be used to further increase the return rate of lost items. By attaching QR code stickers to valuables or frequently lost items and registering them in the app, if someone other than the owner finds the item and scans the QR code, they are immediately connected to the owner, enabling quick recovery of the item.

Users near the area where the item was lost can be requested for help via push notifications, and a reward feature is also included. Additionally, information from the National Police Agency’s comprehensive lost item management system, ‘Lost112,’ is linked, allowing users to search for found items registered nationwide with the police.

FindingAll also offers a corporate solution. It digitizes the entire process from lost item reception to management and return, enabling efficient management and automatic response to lost item reporters through a chatbot system, significantly reducing customer service time. The FindingAll corporate lost item management solution can be applied for through the website.

Wang Young-jin, Director of the DX Convergence Business Team at Sejong Telecom, said, “Using FindingAll, lost items can be searched and tracked 24/7. It helps quickly recover lost items, reduces social costs, prevents economic losses for users, and plans to expand as a service that contributes to solving various social issues such as finding pets and missing persons.”

Meanwhile, the ‘Regional Specialized Industry Convergence Blockchain Joint Project,’ which selected FindingAll, is part of Busan City’s blockchain specialized cluster development project. It is a project promoted by a consortium of Sejong Telecom and BNK System to revitalize the regional blockchain industry ecosystem by discovering new blockchain businesses and promoting service development and commercialization.