Seoul to launch mobile app for foreigners' convenience

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to develop a new mobile application that offers useful information for foreigners and multicultural families here to help them better assimilate to life in South Korea, officials said Wednesday.

The new application, scheduled to be launched in May of next year, is expected to provide some 900,000 foreigners living in Seoul and surrounding regions with updated and accurate information that will be helpful to allow them to settle here, according to the officials.

Users will be able to access information on immigration, acquirement of nationality, legal advice, medical treatment, communication and financial services. The new application will feature other services also, such as information on recruitment and Korean education, important contact numbers, international phone call services and messaging functions.

The application will be available in five languages - Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese - and can be downloaded on the iPhone and Android-based smartphones.

The move comes as the number of foreigners currently living in Seoul alone more than doubled to 400,000 over the past five years, making up 4 percent of the capital's total population. (Yonhap)