By Park Hye Ri
Video = Seoul Foreign Resident Center's official YouTube channel

The long and often complicated names of applications used by the country's administrative agencies will be simplified.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced regulations on the use of simplified or abbreviated names and QR codes for administrative documents such as application forms and certificates.

An abbreviation will be used for a document with an excessively long name or causing confusion due to multiple titles. For instance, an "application for petition to other administrative agencies" was shortened to an "everywhere petition form."

An application for pre- and post-maternity leave and benefits and another for time off in the event of a miscarriage or stillbirth have been unified as an application for maternity leave and benefits.

Forms with similar terms or administrative forms often used by foreign nationals have been shortened to make them more easily distinguishable even if such people cannot read Hangeul. 

For instance, an application for change of workplace in English is called A522B, one on request for information disclosure A249 and certificate of employment for a special foreign worker in construction C523.

The ministry also provides QR codes to provide explanations on each form and guidance on civil services. The codes offer detailed information on the relevant forms such as which window to submit them.

As of January, the ministry had completed simplified names for four administrative forms like the Korean- (A522A) and English-language (A522B) versions of the change-of-workplace application of the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

The plan is to gradually expand the scope of simplification like giving shorter names to administrative forms often used by non-nationals such as certificate of immigration and another on registration of foreign residence.

Certain administrative forms in the country have received criticism for their excessively long names or being too similar with other forms. Foreign residents who cannot read Hangeul often faced difficulty when preparing documents for visas, employment or taxes.

"Government innovation is searching for and resolving administrative inconveniences from the user's perspective," said Hwang Myung-seok, head of the Interior Ministry's Administrative and Civil Affairs System Improvement Planning Group. "We will continue looking for such inconveniences in the administrative system and improving on them with relevant agencies."

hrhr@korea.kr