April 26, 2024

• 

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean internet giant Naver said on April 4 that it has entered a new partnership with GS Retail, agreeing to help employees at local GS24 convenience stores communicate more effectively with those who do not speak Korean.

The two have signed a memorandum of understanding, under which Naver has opened a new section on its translation app Papago that shows translations of common customer service phrases used by convenience store clerks.

Naver’s Chief Technology Officer Song Chang-hyun (left) and GS Retail’s Chief Information Officer Kim Nam-hyuk sign a memorandum of understanding at the GS Retail headquarters in Gangnam of Seoul, April 3. Naver

Launched in August 2016, Naver’s Papago is a mobile translation app that uses an artificially intelligent neural network to offer more accurate, natural translations between Korean and English, Korean and Chinese, and Korean and Japanese.

Under the terms of the memorandum, Naver’s Papago has added a “GS24 convenience store conversation” category, which will show translations of common Korean phrases involving keywords such as “product inquiries,” “tax refunds” and “transportation cards.”

Naver’s new memorandum with GS Retail is the second partnership linking Papago’s translation services with diverse public and private entities here. In February, Naver signed a similar deal with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

By Sohn Ji-young/The Korea Herald (jys@heraldcorp.com)