Busan is good

Call center to opens for Korean travelers in trouble overseas

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Date November 03, 2004  

 
 Koreans facing trouble during their overseas travel will be able to get help from November 15, by pressing the national code of the country involved (011 in Korea) plus 800-2100-0404 for 24 hours a day all the year round.

Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon told reporters on Monday that the government is to open a consular call center for Korean travelers to use in accidents or emergency cases from November 15.

The opening of the call center is a follow-up to the tragedy of Kim sun-il who was kidnapped and killed in Iraq in June under the ministry’s slogan as ``consuls of all officials and call centers in all overseas missions’’ for better service to the people by public servants.

If a citizen calls the center, it is directly connected to the center concerned with the protection of Koreans overseas and missions overseas involved.

The ministry said that the call center will be launched with KT devices and 10 officials in the initial step. From April next year, the ministry will operate the call center independently and extend the service more and increase the staff to 25.

The ministry will also open a homepage (www.0404.go.kr) on security information overseas, starting on December 15 in a separate one from the call center.

The homepage will contain tour information such as visa affairs, security and guide on overseas missions of Korea. Travelers will be able to chat with general public on the Internet in a ``dialog room.’’

In addition, the ministry will collect opinions through talks with experts on overseas trips, publish a collection of consular cases, operate a consultative body on security of Korean residents overseas, provide a consular legal service, and give tours to provinces for explanation of consular affairs.


Following are the responses to questions proposed to Foreign Minister Ban


- What does ``emergency’’ mean?

▲Physical danger. In other words, robbery and other attacks one can have difficulty deal with. The call center will also be available to those who have experienced property damages. However, general consular complaints are not accepted at the center.

-What’s the difference between the consular call center opening on November 15 and the independent call center to open in April?

▲ A formal consular call center will open in April next year on the second floor of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS) building in southern Seoul. It will take time to set up the office. However, as the service is urgent, a temporary service is to open on November 15 in a contract with KT. The call center of the ministry will be set up at the KT, using KT facilities, with 10 officials needed for the service under training. Calls will be toll-free but general consular customers are advised to refrain themselves from using the call center outside of an emergency.


-What is the status and positions of service personnel?

▲ They are not newly recruited. They are KT officials retained specially for the service. In April next year, the ministry will recruit the KT service personnel. They are not diplomats but assistants for administrative officials.

-What is the operating system of consular call center?

▲ Travelers’ complaints will be settled upon receipt if consultants are able to do so. If the problems are beyond their ability, they will be connected to the overseas missions or the center for protection of Korean residents overseas at daytime and to the night duty room of the ministry at night. Emergency phone calls are available to overseas missions and the night duty room of the ministry 24 hours a day.

-Is the call center more desirable than local missions?

▲ If one knows the phone number of an overseas mission, it will be faster. But most people do not know the phone numbers of overseas missions and the location of the embassies. It is most desirable for the party involved to call directly. It is not so easy to call on a weekend or at night, therefore, if a person knows the one phone number, the he or she is able to contact the mission through the call center 24 hours a day. As a result, the call center system is believed to be more convenient.

- There have been complaints that the filed problems are not dealt with in the necessary time by overseas missions even being reported. It is doubted that the call center can be operated friendly.

▲ The complaints have resulted from poor infrastructure. I will make efforts to increase consular staff in consultation with the government reform commission and related ministries. We are also considering recruiting local supporting manpower with expertise considerably as there is systematic problem in increasing regular manpower. In particular, as many as 60 persons will be recruited as consular affairs assistants at the missions in China, within the available budget. To beef up the consular service, it is necessary to consult with related agencies to increase manpower for a long-term goal rather than a short-term remedy.

 

The source of news : news.go.kr