Selected for the Korea Service Satisfaction Grand Prize for 13 Consecutive Years, a First for Local Governments
Professional Counselors at the Core, Operation of Customized Healing Programs
High-Quality Civil Complaint Consultation Services Using a Comprehensive Consultation Database, Earning Top Praise
The ‘120 Baro Call’ service operated by Busan Metropolitan City is setting records in the field of citizen service satisfaction.
Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Hyungjoon) announced on the 4th that it has been selected for the 13th consecutive time as the recipient of the Grand Prize in the Call Center category of the Public Service sector at the 19th Korea Service Satisfaction Awards 2025, marking the first time a local government has achieved this feat.
The Korea Service Satisfaction Awards aim to raise awareness of service quality and promote a consumer satisfaction-oriented service system by identifying and recognizing organizations and companies that provide outstanding services.
This event is hosted by Hankook Ilbo and sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Brand Association.
This award recognizes the Busan 120 Baro Call Center for its efforts to provide high-quality civil complaint consultation services to citizens, including a workforce centered on professional counselors, customized healing programs, systematic training, and the use of the latest consultation databases.
The Busan 120 Baro Call Center utilizes a database of over 4,000 up-to-date consultation cases to provide citizens with prompt and accurate consultation services. The center continuously updates its consultation database and enhances expertise to strengthen the capabilities of its counselors.
Additionally, to alleviate the challenges of emotional labor faced by counselors, the center operates customized healing programs and revises consultation manuals, making efforts to protect the rights of its counselors.
Over the past 17 years, the Busan 120 Baro Call Center has provided citizens with the information they need in a friendly and prompt manner, delivering more than five million cumulative consultation services to date.
The center was established in 2008 with the goal of delivering citizen-satisfying civil complaint administration services. In 2017, it integrated municipal and waterworks consultations, evolving into a more efficient and comprehensive citizen-centered call center.
At the time of its opening, the first-call resolution rate was only 20%, but it has since grown to exceed 80%. This has significantly improved work efficiency by increasing citizen satisfaction and reducing the workload of internal staff handling telephone complaints.
The first-call resolution rate refers to the percentage of inquiries resolved immediately when citizens first request consultation, serving as a key indicator for evaluating the quality and efficiency of call center consultations. As one of the core key performance indicators (KPIs) for call centers, the Busan 120 Baro Call Center has achieved a performance exceeding the typical customer contact center service standard of 75%, demonstrating the outstanding capabilities of its counselors.
Busan Metropolitan City is working to provide faster civil complaint consultations by establishing a web chat consultation service and replacing outdated operating systems to reduce processing times for consultations.
Recently, to accommodate citizens who prefer text, chat, or scheduled consultations, the city has been offering various service channels through its website. It is also enhancing the search functionality for consultation materials and continuously upgrading its systems to improve convenience and provide consultation services tailored to citizens’ needs.
Mayor Park Hyungjoon stated, “We will continue to strengthen our consultation capabilities and implement various policies so that citizens can receive services without inconvenience, in order to improve citizen satisfaction,” adding, “We will keep listening to citizens’ voices and continue to improve our administration to provide citizen-centered administrative services.”
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