[IT Cafe] Why NAVER Is Hosting Its First Marathon in Sejong

Targeting Public AX with AI-Powered Collaboration Tools
"We Aim to Lead Innovation in Public Sector Work"

"The fact that NAVER is hosting its first marathon in Sejong demonstrates how seriously it is taking the public AI transformation (AX) market."

Naver Cloud is devoting its full efforts to final preparations for the ‘Sejong Run 26 with Naver Works,’ which will be held at Sejong Central Park’s Urban Festival Plaza on October 24. Since neither NAVER nor its affiliates have previously hosted marathon events, the organizers are paying particular attention to both the event’s popularity and safety management, leaving nothing to chance as this is the inaugural event.

The marathon event is branded with ‘Naver Works’ to actively promote Naver Cloud’s AI-powered work collaboration tool, Naver Works, in the public sector. In March, Naver Works was officially selected as the collaboration platform for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Through the government-led ‘Intelligent Work Management Platform’ initiative, it is being adopted broadly across the public sector. There are also plans to roll out the platform to more than 700,000 civil servants nationwide.

Naver Cloud’s goal is to let AI take care of gathering, compiling, and organizing data, so that public servants can focus more on the core value of public administration—policymaking. The company is enhancing the platform’s features so that Naver Works can evolve from a simple collaboration tool into an AI workspace that drives innovation in public sector work.

The decision to host the marathon in Sejong City was aimed at boosting participation from civil servants. A Naver Cloud official stated, "Interest has been so high that all 4,000 participant slots have been filled. Since Geumgang Footbridge (Eung Bridge), a local Sejong landmark, has a maximum capacity of 5,000 people, we limited the number of participants for safety reasons in case all runners cross the bridge at once."

The marathon offers 5km and 10km courses. The registration fees are 40,000 won and 50,000 won, respectively, with a 10,000 won discount offered for participants who verify with a civil servant email address. On the day of the event, renowned marathoner Lee Bongjoo will give his support in person at the opening ceremony. Participants will also receive a ‘Naver Works Race Pack’ including a T-shirt, sports socks, and more.

Sarah Kim, an executive director at Naver Cloud, said, "We hope to establish NAVER as a core partner in public AX. With the enthusiastic participation of civil servants and their families, I want this to become a festival for both central government ministries and local governments." A public servant from the Ministry of Science and ICT who uses Naver Works commented, "Since its introduction, uploading files to the drive allows anyone with permission to edit or revise them, and they can even be viewed via mobile phone, which is convenient. I plan to run the marathon in October together with my daughter."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.