AI to Read Online Public Sentiment... Hongcheon County Develops Nation’s First Public Opinion Management System

【Financial News | Hongcheon = Kim Ki-seop】Hongcheon County will become the first local government in the country to develop a system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze residents’ posts on blogs, online communities and YouTube, then send public opinion reports to senior county officials every day at 7 a.m.
Hongcheon County said on the 8th that it has begun developing an AI Online Public Opinion Trends Situation Management System and plans to launch it fully in November after validation and a pilot run. The system is designed to monitor a broad range of issues, including complaints about everyday inconveniences, responses to policies, tourism and local concerns, and connect them to fact-checking and action by relevant departments before minor concerns spread.
The system collects posts from public spaces, including online news sites, blogs, online communities, YouTube and social networking services (SNS), and analyzes trends in public opinion. Its aim is to identify residents’ concerns and everyday inconveniences early—issues that officials might easily miss if they had to search for them one by one.
The analysis will focus on 10 key terms selected by the county, which the person in charge can change in real time depending on the situation. When a new local issue arises or officials need to gauge reactions to a particular topic, they can simply adjust the keywords, and the system will gather and analyze relevant posts and trends in public opinion.
The results will be sent by email to key officials every day at 7 a.m. in the form of a daily situation report summarizing major issues, online reactions and how they are spreading. If a negative issue, such as a disaster, is detected, an alert will be sent immediately, regardless of the report schedule. If AI identifies as an urgent issue posts about incidents and accidents appearing in real time on YouTube or Instagram, along with reactions in the comments, it will immediately email key officials and managers.
On a web interface, the person in charge can view the original posts, how they are spreading, and trends in public opinion by keyword and topic. AI sorts posts into urgent, monitoring and reference categories, which officials can use to prioritize their response and consider initial measures.
AI can suggest an initial response direction and matters that require review, but it does not replace administrative judgment. It serves only as a supporting tool, providing the source and original text of posts so that the officials in charge can check the facts themselves and decide on follow-up measures.
Hongcheon County Governor Shin Young-jae said, “Administration that residents can feel means noticing and acting before a minor inconvenience grows.” He added, “We will use the public opinion reports and disaster alerts we receive every morning as supplementary material for on-site decision-making, while officials remain responsible for the decisions and bear the accountability to the end. We will also carefully address any problems that emerge during the pilot run.”

[email protected] Kim Ki-seop Reporter