Public Paperwork Requirements Waived

Koreans will no longer need to present most civil affairs documents to administrative, public and financial institutions beginning in 2007. Moreover, people will not have to notify financial institutions, including banks, insurance and credit card companies, of their new addresses when they change their residency.

The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs announced this initiative on November 18, when the ministry held an inaugural meeting of the committee on promoting administrative information sharing to facilitate information sharing among administrative, public and financial institutions.

According to the initiative, the number of civil affair documents which can be shared among administrative agencies will increase from 24 (the present number) to 34 in July 2006. The ministry will also implement a system that will enable 554 agencies in three areas to share 40 types of administrative documents including a certificate of registered seal and a register of title deeds starting in 2007.

As a next step, 74 types of civil affair documents including business licenses and customs import and export declarations will be shared among administrative agencies starting December 2007. However, financial institutions will have access to only 41 kinds of documents including customs import and export declarations, while public agencies will be allowed access to 72 forms of information.

The administrative information sharing center will link the information systems of administrative, public, and financial institutions to one another; therefore, if a person completes a notification of address change and applies for information sharing, the address change will be automatically reported to financial institutions including banks and insurance companies in which the person holds accounts. The 20 members participating in the committee on promoting administrative information sharing include Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan (committee co-chairman), and Jeong Yong-deok, a professor of the Graduate School of Public Administration at Seoul National University.

Jong-Dae Ha orionha@donga.com