1. The Foreign Ministry’s Consular Call Center has been chosen as an outstanding organization in the public services category of the Korean Service Quality Index (KSQI) for the year 2017 compiled by the Korea Management Association Consulting (KMAC) agency.

° The index has been compiled on an annual basis since 2004 for 247 call centers in 41 categories, including public services. The Consular Call Center, in recognition of its high-quality and swift services offered to the general public, has been chosen as an “outstanding call center of the Republic of Korea” for the past twelve consecutive years since 2006.

※ The index is based on the telephone calls made by professional monitoring personnel to call centers, acting as customers in accordance with the scenarios created for different timeframes, days and industries. The evaluation for the year 2017 was undertaken from the second quarter of 2016 till the first quarter of 2017.

2. The Consular Call Center, set up on April 1, 2005, is in operation 24/7, offering counseling services in the full range of consular matters, including those concerning disasters and other incidents and accidents overseas. In 2016 alone, it handled more than 240,000 cases.

° In particular, the Center, part of the ROK’s state response system for protecting its nationals in emergencies, serves as a channel that the public can use in such situations. On the heels of the earthquakes in Kumamoto, Japan, and in Ecuador in April 2016; the unrest in Turkey and the terrorist attack in France in July 2016; and the automobile attack in London in March 2017, the Center, in close cooperation with the Foreign Ministry headquarters and overseas missions, checked on the damages and injuries sustained by the ROK nationals as well as their safety situations; rendered assistance to those affected; and relayed the results of such efforts to the families of the affected. By doing so, the Center played a role in better ensuring the safety of the ROK nationals.

3. Furthermore, in a bid to help ROK nationals in emergencies overseas, the Consular Call Center has also been offering the “Rapid Overseas Remittance System” service since June 2007 as well as interpretation services over the phone in six languages -- English, Chinese, Japanese, French, Russian and Spanish -- since July 2015 to those facing difficulties in handling aftermaths of accidents overseas due to language barriers.

4. Chosen as an outstanding call center, the Consular Call Center will continue efforts to improve the quality of its services to the public and provide world-class consular services as a frontline window for the protection of the overseas Koreans.


* unofficial translation