Police expand English, Chinese interpretation for 112 hotline

Police station in an undated file photo. [NEWS1]

Police said on Monday that it expanded the English and Chinese interpretation services for the 112 emergency hotline into 24 hour coverage to promptly respond to reports from foreigners.

The National Police Agency (NPA) has been providing interpretation services since June last year, operating from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays. The two languages — English and Chinese — were chosen due to high demand.

The expansion comes as both police officials and the public viewed the service positively. According to the police, the average time taken for a report call by a foreigner was reduced by two minutes and 21 seconds compared to when the police used a private interpretation service.

The police on Monday shared a case where they successfully located and rescued a foreigner who was trapped between rocks while hiking Mount Seorak on March 12 through a three-way phone call with an interpreter.

An additional 12 interpreters have been deployed since 9 a.m. Monday, all of whom have undergone training programs for handling crime reports. Only four interpreters were dispatched for the service up before Monday.

The police also opened a center for the 16 trained interpreters at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency building on Monday.

The interpreters will offer interpretation services for police officers on-site when needed.

The service will be offered in more languages, including Japanese and Vietnamese, depending on demand and feedback, according to the NPA.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]