The Korea Post headquarters at the Government Complex Sejong in Sejong Special Self-Governing City. (Image courtesy of Korea Post)
SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s postal service is preparing a sweeping overhaul of its customer-facing operations, with plans to embed artificial intelligence across mail and financial services in an effort to modernize delivery, ease staffing shortages and improve efficiency.
The Korea Post said Sunday it will commission a consulting project next year to design a “digital desk” platform that integrates multimodal AI, large language models and autonomous systems into postal and banking services.
The results will shape a nationwide rollout beginning in 2027, transforming how Koreans interact with their local post offices.
Under the plan, “AI clerks” capable of understanding speech, text, gestures and video will handle basic transactions, from deposits and insurance inquiries to parcel requests, at a single unmanned counter.
Video-linked staff and on-site employees will initially guide customers through the process, but reliance on human workers is expected to diminish as the technology matures.
The strategy reflects mounting pressure to sustain services in depopulating rural areas, where small community post offices are disappearing and remaining staff often struggle to cover shifts.
Officials said the use of AI could reduce those burdens while preserving the government’s “one office per township” commitment.
Longer term, Korea Post is exploring delivery robots, autonomous vehicles and unmanned postal stations in dense residential complexes.
At the same time, it stressed that AI would supplement rather than immediately replace staff, allowing employees to shift into planning, marketing or redeployment to overworked branches.
Security and accessibility are also central to the design. The agency plans to build internal GPU-powered servers for AI processing, routinely test models for accuracy, and enable digital desks to adjust features such as height, audio and subtitles to match user needs.
Integration with weighing scales, couriers’ handheld devices and card issuers is under review.
The initiative dovetails with President Lee Jae-myung’s pledge to expand access to “AI for all.” “By introducing AI-enabled public services, we aim not only to ease staff hardships but also to deliver higher-quality service nationwide,” a Korea Post official said.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
