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GoodPy (Ministry of the Interior and Safety)
Over 12 million residents have subscribed to the Korean government’s virtual assistant service for the public, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said Thursday.
The virtual assistant service named “GoodPy” provides various information on vaccine appointments, traffic fines, as well as reminders for driving license renewal and regular medical checkups. GoodPy sends notifications to its subscribers via popular mobile applications Naver, KakaoTalk and Toss.
Last month, the ministry added the function to notify GoodPy users of information on COVID-19 relief funds. The virtual assistant informs subscribers about whether they are eligible to receive the government financial aid, how much the relief fund is, how they can apply for the money, where they can use the handout and when they have to use it by.
According to the ministry, GoodPy will send its users a reminder to apply for the relief funds on Oct. 22, a week before the application deadline. As the latest COVID-19 relief funds are to be used by the end of the year, the virtual assistant will send two notifications before it expires: a month before Dec. 31 and a week before.
GoodPy has sent over 162 million vaccine notifications to its users since its launch in March, the ministry said. It includes confirmation for vaccine appointments, a pre-vaccination guide the day before the appointment, instructions on the day and information on self-monitoring for three days after vaccination.
“We will continue to add new services and expand the number of applications linked to GoodPy in order to build on the success of this digital collaboration between the public and private sectors,” said Interior Minister Jeon Hae-cheol.