Running Petition Center (달리는 국민신문고)
Overview
The 'Running Petition Center' is a mobile civil complaint consultation and reception service operated by the South Korean government. It directly receives and processes various inconveniences, policy suggestions, and corruption reports that citizens experience in their daily lives on-site. First introduced by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) in 2010, this service visits locations nationwide to communicate directly with citizens, providing practical assistance to the digitally marginalized or residents in areas with limited offline complaint access. The 'Running Petition Center' complements existing online and telephone complaint channels and is considered a representative example of on-site administration that enhances the government's accessibility to public services.
Main Content
Background and Purpose of Introduction
Although South Korea's e-government system developed rapidly after the 2000s, information-vulnerable groups such as the elderly, rural residents, and people with disabilities still faced difficulties in submitting complaints online. Additionally, many citizens preferred face-to-face consultations for complex complaints or corruption reports. Accordingly, the ACRC first operated the 'Running Petition Center' in September 2010, touring cities, counties, and districts nationwide to receive complaints on-site and propose solutions. The main objectives were: ▲Improving complaint accessibility ▲Strengthening on-site policy communication ▲Activating corruption reporting ▲Enhancing public service satisfaction.
Operation Method
The 'Running Petition Center' tours the country using dedicated buses or vehicles. The vehicles are equipped with consultation booths, computers, printers, etc., and are staffed by investigators, lawyers, certified public accountants, appraisers, and other experts from the ACRC who conduct on-site consultations. The operation schedule is pre-announced through the ACRC website and local governments, and the vehicles typically stop at locations with high citizen accessibility, such as traditional markets, community centers, welfare centers, and universities. Consultations are free, and received complaints are either processed immediately or forwarded to relevant agencies.
Main Consultation Areas
- Life Complaints: Local living inconveniences such as roads, sewage, parking, noise, and environment
- Policy Suggestions: Improvement opinions and ideas on government policies
- Corruption Reports: Public official misconduct, bribery, budget waste, etc.
- Welfare and Employment: Basic livelihood security, jobs, housing support, and other social welfare matters
- Consumer Damage: Unfair trade, counterfeit goods, contract violations, etc.
- Legal Consultation: General legal issues such as civil, family, and administrative matters
Achievements and Cases
From 2010 to 2024, the 'Running Petition Center' operated an average of 200 to 300 times or more per year, with cumulative consultations exceeding 100,000 cases. Notable success stories include resolving water supply shortages in rural areas, improving illegal parking enforcement in traditional markets, and providing tax consultation support for small businesses. Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, it visited small village units while adhering to quarantine rules, focusing on damage support consultations for self-employed individuals and small business owners.
Limitations and Improvement Tasks
Some critics point out that the 'Running Petition Center' may remain a one-time event. There are also criticisms that follow-up management is insufficient until complaints received on-site are actually resolved, or that visited areas are biased toward large cities. Additionally, the number of operations is limited due to budget and manpower shortages, and some regions have low awareness due to insufficient promotion. In response, the ACRC has been strengthening digital linkage for the 'Running Petition Center' since 2023, introducing a system that allows citizens to check progress online even after on-site consultations, and is promoting plans to expand regular visit schedules in cooperation with local governments.
Latest Trends
From 2024 to 2025, the 'Running Petition Center' is undergoing changes in line with digital transformation. First, an AI-based consultation assistance system has been introduced to classify complaints received on-site in real-time and search for similar cases, improving the work efficiency of counselors. Second, an 'online reservation consultation' service linked to a mobile app is being piloted, allowing faster on-site processing if complaint details are pre-registered before the visit. Third, since 2025, cases of integrated operation with the 'Mobile Integrity Bus' have increased, expanding into a one-stop service that simultaneously receives corruption reports and life complaints. Additionally, customized consultation programs for the elderly and people with disabilities have been strengthened, providing braille guides, sign language interpretation services, and more. The government aims to visit all 228 basic local governments nationwide by 2025, with plans to double the number of visits to island and mountainous areas.
Related Topics
- [[Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (국민권익위원회)]]
- [[Corruption Report (부패신고)]]
- [[E-Government (전자정부)]]
- [[Civil Complaint Administration (민원행정)]]
- [[Mobile Service (찾아가는 서비스)]]
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