It is a major hassle to report a transfer of address, birth of a baby, death of a parent, or marriage, above all because you have to visit more than one public office or surf around the Internet in many cases.
Now, the government is planning to offer a virtual one-stop service through the Internet as part of efforts to eliminate bureaucratic inconvenience.
For instance, when changing address, it is required that reports are made to City Hall, the district office and a regional educational board on top of a visit to a neighborhood public office, in bringing the total number of separate reports to a maximum 22.
In the case of the death of a parent, cited as a major inconvenience are reports over application for a pension or succession of legal status for taking over the deceased's business.
The new one-stop service will be offered at www.egov.go.kr. The Web site will explain how best it can be used.
Once the system is in operation, applicants will be able to be informed of the results of their submissions by mobile phone or e-mail.
This service will be available for 10 areas including moving, education, death, birth and marriage.
The government is planning to make the services available in stages, first offering a service for death, and for then moving house by the end of December. All other services will be up and running by the end of next year.
About 300 billion won can be saved per year by making trips to government offices unnecessary.
"This will definitely upgrade our public services to the world's No. 1 level," said Park Chang-woo, an official at the Ministry of Public Administration and Security.
Park said the trend will expand into the financial and other private sectors.