Central government agencies in the greater Seoul area, including the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the National Police Agency, will relocate to Sejong starting in the first half of next year. A total of 109 public institutions will be closed through mergers and consolidations, equal to 20% of all 525 public institutions. Detailed relocation plans will be announced in the fourth quarter of this year.
Prime Minister Han Seong-sook announced the plan, titled "Measures to Reform the Functions of Public Institutions," on the 3rd. "At the starting point of the problems South Korea now faces is a single-pole system centered on the capital region," Han said. "Balanced growth is not a matter of choice but a survival strategy for a sustainable South Korea."
Under the reform, Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) will be divided into two public institutions, one dedicated to housing supply and the other to housing welfare. The split comes 17 years after the 2009 merger of Korea Land Corporation and Korea National Housing Corporation.
Korea National Oil Corporation and Korea Gas Corporation, both state-run energy companies, will be combined into a new entity called Korea Energy and Resources Corporation. Five power generation subsidiaries — Korea Southeast Power, Korea Midland Power, Korea Western Power, Korea Southern Power and Korea East-West Power — will be consolidated into Korea Power Generation. Four regional port authorities — Busan, Incheon, Ulsan and Yeosu Gwangyang — will be reborn as Korea Port Authority. The four existing corporations will be converted into regional branches.
Korea Railroad Corporation, known as Korail, and SR Corporation, which operates the Suseo high-speed railway, will be merged. A plan to combine Incheon International Airport Corporation, Korea Airports Corporation and the Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Authority will be reviewed again after measures to revitalize regional airports are pursued first.
Sensitive details such as the location of headquarters for the merged corporations were not included, however, suggesting considerable friction ahead. The government said employment will be guaranteed for all staff except executives when institutions are merged or closed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Unification, the Ministry of National Defense and the Financial Services Commission were not officially named in the announcement. "The absence of an announcement today does not mean they are excluded from relocation," Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung said.
