Even Government Can't Cross Korea's Talent Line

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) is considering placing its new National AI Service Innovation Task Force, set to launch next month, in Seoul or Pangyo in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Despite President Lee Jae-myung's push for balanced national development, the ministry has concluded that even a central government agency cannot secure top talent without an office in the greater Seoul area.

MSIT is recruiting private-sector experts to staff the task force, according to the ministry and the Ministry of Personnel Management on the 2nd. The task force is a new organization created to rapidly design and develop AI-based services that citizens can experience directly. Of its 61 total positions, the government plans to fill 26 — including the director — with private-sector hires.

The work location MSIT has specified is Seoul or Seongnam. Of the 26 private-sector experts, 25 — all but one planning officer — would work in central Seoul or Pangyo, requiring the ministry to set up an office in the capital region. That runs counter to the policy direction of relocating public agencies and state-owned enterprises outside the capital region while encouraging private anchor companies to move to the provinces.

MSIT, which leads national core technology research and development and the country's strategy to widen its lead in AI, wants the task force in the capital region despite the balanced development agenda because it sees little chance of finding top talent south of what industry calls the "southern limit line." The term refers to the southern boundary within which companies can still recruit staff. For production workers, the line is Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, home to a Samsung Electronics chip plant; for R&D staff, it is Pangyo. "Strong developers are essential to the task force's success, and they prefer Seoul or Pangyo," a government official said. "The view was that a location-based incentive is necessary to hire top developers."

Research institutes and public agencies that have already moved out of the capital region are also reporting talent shortages. "We are hiring continuously to run the company, but without a headquarters in Seoul it is hard to attract top talent," the head of one state-owned enterprise under a central ministry said. "Even when we want to open a Seoul office, we feel scrutinized, so it is not an easy environment to push for one." ▷ Story on Page 3