South Korea Adds AI Web Search to Civil Servants' On-AI Platform

South Korea's Ministry of the Interior and Safety said on November 1 that it is adding web search, document drafting and collaboration features to On-AI, the intelligent work management platform used by civil servants. Officials can now search for up-to-date information with AI directly on the government work network, without switching to a separate internet-connected system.

Search without moving between networks

The "AI web search" feature, introduced in October, lets staff find and analyze recent policy materials, news articles and other online information from their work PCs. Previously, an official had to search on an internet PC, save the material as a file and move it to the work-network PC with an inter-network transfer program, which meant repeated logins, file transfers and downloads.

Now users can ask questions in natural language and use answers that draw on internet information right away. A QR code shown with each answer can be scanned with a smartphone to check the sources and original text.

Report drafting arrives in December

In December, the ministry will begin trial operation of "On-AI Collaboration," which supports report writing and joint editing. Officials register existing work materials and document templates, and the AI analyzes them to produce a draft report in the Hangul HWPX format. The draft can be edited in a web editor or shared with colleagues.

The ministry says the goal is to handle the whole workflow, from collecting and analyzing data to writing and reviewing reports, on a single platform.

Sharing agents across agencies

From next year, the ministry plans to let agencies share AI agents built by officials or by the agencies themselves. Automation tools developed by one agency could then be used by others, which the ministry expects to cut duplicate development and raise usage. It has been gathering feedback from civil servants since November last year, as On-AI spread across central ministries, and says it will reflect that input in improvements and strengthen training and user guidance.

Hwang Gyu-cheol, head of the ministry's AI government office, said AI is evolving from a tool that answers questions into a work partner that helps find materials and write reports, freeing officials to focus on policies and services for citizens.