Lee Eunyeong This study reexamines empathy dialogue education by shifting the focus from empathic responses to empathy-requesting speech. Through theoretical analysis and examination of university students’ perceptions of AI-mediated empathy dialogue, the study finds that empathy-requesting speech involves judgments about empathy provider selection and relational safety, interaction timing and mode, and scope of self-disclosure. Empathy requests were categorized into emotional sharing, inner disclosure, perception confirmation, and exploration and organization. These findings highlight empathy-requesting speech as a key phase of empathy dialogue and support expanding empathy dialogue education toward an interactional model that incorporates empathy requests.