South Korean telecom operator LG Uplus announced Tuesday that it will launch a live chat customer service platform in foreign languages, including English, Chinese and Vietnamese, to better respond to a recent surge in visitors to Korea.

The company said more than 1,000 customer consultations were carried out during the pilot operation period over two months, confirming the increased demand for foreign language services.

According to recent immigration data, about 460,000 foreign nationals arrived in Korea in January, a significant increase from 90,000 visitors during the same period last year.

LG Uplus already operates translation services over the phone in English, Chinese and Vietnamese, with more than 100 customers using the service every month.

For the new live chat service, the company plans to hire native speakers from China, Vietnam and Russia, while Google Assistant-based automatic translations will be used for other languages.

The operators of the live chat service are professional foreign language speakers who will communicate directly with customers on a total of 25 types of inquiries, including subscriptions, product cancellations and payments.

Thus far, foreign customers had to visit offline stores or use a dedicated call center to get answers to their inquiries.

LG Uplus plans to set up a multi-language website next month to enhance the overall experience for foreign users. English is the only language option for now but more languages, including Chinese, Vietnamese and Russian, will be introduced in phases.