₩22.6 billion in mistaken transfers returned, support provided for deleting online posts in 50,000 cases ... 10 government innovation cases selected

[Financial News]  Public services that returned 22.6 billion won in mistakenly transferred funds and received and processed more than 50,000 applications for help removing online posts containing children’s and adolescents’ personal information have been selected as outstanding examples of government innovation. Policies that improved everyday inconveniences for the public—including preventing no-show scams, accompanying sick children to hospitals, and installing heated seats at bus stops—were also recognized as government innovation achievements.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) said on the 1st that it had held the “2026 Government Innovation Firsts and Bests” certification ceremony at SJ Kunsthalle in Seoul’s Gangnam-gu on October 30, selecting and certifying 10 cases in total: two world firsts, one first in Korea, and seven bests in Korea.
The world-first cases selected were the Personal Information Protection Commission’s “Public Service Supporting the Removal of Online Posts Containing Children’s and Adolescents’ Personal Information” and the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation’s “Public Service Supporting the Return of Mistaken Remittances.”
Since April 2023, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) has operated the “Eraser Service,” which helps remove or block online posts containing personal information that children and adolescents have posted. Under the service, the government directly consults with platform operators to support the removal of posts. Through August this year, 50,029 cases had been received and processed.
Since July 2021, the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) has operated a service that recovers and returns money that was mistakenly transferred on behalf of the sender. Through July this year, it had returned funds in 18,216 cases, totaling about 22.6 billion won. The service is credited with developing procedures that had relied on cooperation among financial institutions to return funds into a public financial consumer protection system.
Seoul’s heated bus-stop seats were selected as the first such case in Korea. Since their pilot introduction in 2009, they have spread to local governments nationwide. They are now installed at 4,921 stops, about 98% of bus stops in Seoul’s city bus system.
Seven cases were selected as Korea’s best across three fields: youth welfare, no-show scam prevention and victim support, and the regeneration of unused spaces.
The “Sick Child Care Center” in Nowon-gu, Seoul, was recognized for providing hospital accompaniment and bedside care services for dual-income households and others. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s “Dream Arts Group” was also selected for supporting children and adolescents with limited access to arts and culture.
The National Police Agency was recognized for its efforts to proactively detect phone numbers used in no-show scams and suspend transactions in suspicious accounts, among other measures. Losses from no-show scams fell 50.6%, from a monthly average of 18 billion won in the second quarter of this year to 8.9 billion won in July. The Korea Consumer Agency was selected for its case of setting more detailed standards for cancellation penalties on restaurant reservations.
This year, MOIS selected outstanding cases under the theme “Small but Sure Government Innovation that Citizens Love,” through expert evaluations, deliberations by a selection committee and other processes. It also introduced an online public vote for the first time to expand public participation. The “Government Innovation Firsts and Bests” initiative has been jointly run by MOIS and the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA) since 2023. MOIS plans to share the selected cases nationwide and promote their wider adoption.

[email protected] Lee Bomi Reporter