Frustrating Shift of Government Documents to 'HWPX'... Lee: "Still at a Cabinet Meeting in the Republic of Korea..."

"Can't We Solve Even a Simple Technical Problem in an Advanced IT Country?"
Existing HWP Files Still Cannot Be Automatically Converted... Ministers Questioned
Yoon Hojung: "We Will Develop a Conversion Patch"... Lee Urges Prime M

President Lee Jaemyung criticized the government on Nov. 3 over its failure to convert government documents into HWPX, an open file format that AI can easily read, saying, "I find it truly absurd that this is even being discussed at a Cabinet meeting in the Republic of Korea." The criticism highlighted that the government has yet to resolve even the technical issue of automatically converting existing Hangul (HWP) documents into HWPX. Lee called for guidelines and technical improvements to facilitate the transition of government documents to HWPX.

President Lee Jaemyung speaks at a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Nov. 3, 2026. Yonhap News

Lee made the remarks at the 47th Cabinet meeting, which he chaired that day at Cheong Wa Dae. "How is it that we still haven't been able to solve such simple technical problems?" he said. He then instructed Prime Minister Han Seongsook, "Since you have more of a business background, please find a way to ensure we don't have to talk about this again."

The discussion began when Ha Jung-woo, vice chair of the National AI Strategy Committee, asked government ministries to cooperate. "Data that AI can read is key to the AI transformation," Ha said, urging each ministry to save and share documents in HWPX format.

Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-jung said that, since October, files could not be attached to the integrated email system for public officials unless they were in an open document format such as HWPX. However, he said that some ministry websites and internal email systems still use the older HWP format, causing confusion, and called for cooperation in using open document formats.

"Why not make HWPX the default format going forward?" Lee said, suggesting that the government could require the use of open document formats when purchasing Hangul software.

Ha responded that HWPX is set as the default format for saving new documents, but that existing HWP documents are sometimes saved in the same format out of habit, so a one-time conversion is necessary.

"With today's level of technology, when you open an old file and convert it, shouldn't it just automatically become HWPX?" Lee asked. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyunghoon replied that existing documents currently have to be opened and saved again as HWPX, and that an automatic conversion program would require additional preparation. Lee reiterated the need for technical improvements.

"If we are to make all of government administration AI-driven, data must, as a basic requirement, be machine-readable. It makes no sense that we are still producing documents that machines cannot read," he said, expressing frustration that this was happening "in an advanced IT country like the Republic of Korea."

Yoon responded, "We will develop and distribute a conversion patch." Prime Minister Han also said that the government needed to promote the transition to HWPX through clear government-wide policies.

"Government documents should be made in HWPX by default, whether they are revised or newly created, except in special cases," Lee said, instructing officials to consider implementing this through relevant guidelines.

Ha noted, however, that software libraries capable of reading existing HWP files are available, but that processing can be difficult when documents contain complex tables, for example. Prime Minister Han identified potential errors and quality degradation when converting older documents as issues that needed to be addressed.

The government has previously pursued a gradual restriction on HWP use and a transition to HWPX to expand AI use in the public sector. However, automatic conversion of existing documents and compatibility issues with ministry-specific work systems remain unresolved.

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