Science ministry to pilot AI permit pre-check service in five local governments

The science ministry said Wednesday it will begin a pilot next January of an artificial intelligence service that screens whether a land-development project can win approval, part of a push to bring AI into everyday administrative work.

The service, developed jointly with the land ministry, lets a user ask a question in ordinary language and returns a pre-assessment of whether a permit is likely to be granted, based on land-use regulations and local government ordinances. Officials presented the demonstration version at the 18th Korea Geospatial Technology Exchange Expo, known as K-Geo Festa, in a progress report attended by about 130 people from agencies, local governments and industry.

The first pilot will cover five local governments: Gyeyang District in Incheon, Eumseong County in North Chungcheong Province, Asan in South Chungcheong Province, and Gyeongsan and Yeongcheon in North Gyeongsang Province. The ministry plans to widen the trial to 18 local governments from June 2027, then release a mobile version and a service for civil servants' administrative work in December 2027.

The project is one of the government's 10 AI livelihood projects and was the only land ministry task selected in a science ministry competition. Work began in April with a target of completion by December 2027, and a consortium led by AI and data analytics firm B.I. Matrix, with geospatial companies Wevers and ICT Way as partners, is carrying it out.

The developers have finished linking an orchestrator, which coordinates the functions of multiple AI agents, with the individual agents, and have built the environment for demonstration and pilot operation. The system uses AI that analyzes the intent of a question typed in everyday language.

"The AI-based integrated permit pre-check service unveiled today will help people understand and prepare for complex permit requirements and procedures without specialist knowledge, and I expect it to be an occasion for the public to feel the benefits of AI directly in daily life," said Hong Seong-wan, director-general for ICT policy at the science ministry. He added that the ministry will keep working closely with other departments to speed up AI adoption in the public sector.

Land ministry official Lee Dae-seop said the report was the first showing of the demonstration results to local government staff who deal directly with the public, and that the ministry will use the pilot to improve the service's completeness and stability ahead of a full launch.