Create a nationwide public service that makes it easier for people to get the information they need to live, settle, or be active in a specific area.
At 9:07 a.m. on the 24th, the final task of the "AI Champion Hackathon" appeared on the screen in conference room 302 of Exhibition Hall 2 at KINTEX in Ilsan, Goyang, Gyeonggi. The assignment was to develop a "one-stop AI solution" that would let people moving into areas at risk of disappearing quickly find the information they need.
The task screen switched to a "4-hour countdown." Teams held planning meetings among members or started designing direction. The sounds of strategy discussions and laptop keyboards filled the conference room. Participants began developing solutions with "Vibe Coding," which lets AI write code from everyday natural language.
Eight teams made it to the final after clearing the previous day's semifinal. Of these, six were "black-coder" teams with no coding experience. The semifinal drew reviews calling it a "black-coder revolt." Officials from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Information Society Agency (NIA), which ran the hackathon, said they were curious whether the "black-coder revolt" would continue today, and they tried to predict the outcome.
As the deadline approached, each team did a rehearsal for their solution demo or started preparing their presentation. At 1:10 p.m., four hours after the hackathon began, "coding time ended" was declared. That was followed by the "submission deadline" at 1:20 p.m.
During the four-hour hackathon, teams proposed a variety of solutions to prevent regional extinction. They implemented solutions introducing, in a one-step format, settlement support programs offered by local governments in at-risk areas, across various user interfaces (UI).
Some solutions focused on boosting migrants' income. Dongdongz, a two-person team of employees at the Korea Land and Geospatial InformatiX Corporation (LX), drew inspiration from Shinan, South Jeolla's "sunlight pension" to roll out a tool that analyzes solar power sites by region. Using land form information and land slope data at 1-meter intervals, it can score and rate even solar irradiance. Head of Team Lim Jeong-su said, "We focused on the idea that if income is sufficient in non-capital regions, people can live better than in the greater Seoul area."
A solution also appeared that lets people experience potential destinations in a game format. A-deul-net-ddal-dul, a two-person team of employees at the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), proposed the game "Appago" as a way to minimize children's maladjustment when daily life changes abruptly due to relocations amid announced transfers of public institutions to the regions. Like "Pokémon Go," the core of the game is moving around major facilities in the area to complete missions.
KOICA's "Jigeumeunggeup" team unveiled a solution that provides tailored information for the Gwangju–South Jeolla area, where administrative integration could cause policy confusion. Based on a migrant's budget for purchasing dwellings, their solution even suggested the optimal place to move in, depending on key variables such as education and transportation.
Five judges — Jo Yong-min, CEO of Unbound Lab; Jeong Sang-won, CEO of ESTsoft; Seon Jae-won, CEO of Meraki Place; Seo Hee-seok, professor at Korea University of Technology and Education; and Son Byeong-ui, head of MAUM.AI Research Institute — praised the solutions developed by civil servants and public institution employees.
Head Son Byeong-ui said, "The skills of people working in the public sector are no joke," adding, "Develop services that can be used continuously to improve people's quality of life." CEO Jo Yong-min said, "You solved a sharp problem clearly. The completeness is remarkable," and added, "It would be good to add ideas for marketing. Please develop better services from the user's perspective."
During the judging, CEO Jo Yong-min said he wanted to invest in a particular team's solution. CEO Jeong Sang-won even expressed interest in purchasing Dongdongz's intellectual property, including its solution and ideas.
In the final results, Dongdongz of the Korea Land and Geospatial InformatiX Corporation (LX) won the grand prize. The top excellence award, equivalent to runner-up, went to KOICA's "A-deul-net-ddal-dul" team. Both teams were back-coders with coding experience. At the awards ceremony, some said they "showed the class of back-coders."
The "black-coder special award," given to the top team among black-coder developers, went to "Bodeum" of the Gunsan Public Health Center in North Jeolla. At the ceremony, the Bodeum team also demonstrated their solution, "Bodeum," on behalf of the hackathon participants.
Hwang Gyu-cheol, director general for the government AI office at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS), said, "In the public sector, adopting AI is no longer a choice but a necessity," adding, "Seeing the outcomes created by the hackathon participants made us expect that public administration services for the public will improve quickly."
One finalist said, "This was the first competition in my life that turned ideas I only imagined in my head into reality," adding, "I'm taking away courage and the confidence that I can do it." Another participant said, "It opened the possibility of challenging oneself regardless of age," and another noted, "It was a competition where we learned that AI can be a tool to protect the places where people live, beyond technology."