Reception Desk at the Seoul Emergency Operations Center (Image courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government)
SEOUL, July 23 (Korea Bizwire) — In a bid to enhance emergency response during disasters, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has introduced South Korea’s first AI-powered 119 emergency call system, allowing residents to report incidents quickly and conveniently—even during surges in call volume caused by extreme weather or large-scale emergencies.
The AI callbot system, launched on a trial basis in March, can handle up to 240 simultaneous emergency calls, helping to avoid long waits or automated response messages that typically occur when all 720 available lines are occupied.
According to Seoul city officials, the AI system interacts with callers in real time, identifying the nature and location of incidents through voice input. It then prioritizes urgent cases for immediate handoff to human operators at the Seoul Emergency Operations Center, securing critical response time—often referred to as the “golden hour”—to minimize damage and save lives.
The AI also integrates and analyzes multiple reports from the same area to identify signs of complex disasters, such as simultaneous fires and structural collapses, enabling early risk detection.
In the four months since its launch, the AI callbot has processed 11,434 emergency reports, of which 2,250 were classified as urgent.
Currently activated only during times of high call volume, the city plans to expand the service to include routine operations, applying the AI system to selected emergency lines even under normal conditions. This broader rollout will form part of Seoul’s planned AI-based Integrated Disaster Management System, set to begin pilot operations in late 2026.
Future capabilities will include automated handling of routine incidents, such as road flooding or drainage issues, and a dual monitoring system in which human staff supervise AI responses in real time.
To ensure accountability and public trust, Seoul is working with the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) to certify the safety and reliability of the AI system.
“Now that AI has become a tool for protecting lives, we must secure both technological reliability and public trust,” said Kang Ok-hyun, head of Seoul’s Digital City Bureau. “Our goal is to build a harmonized public AI ecosystem where technology operates within the framework of civic safety.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
