The South Korean government will announce on the 3rd which central administrative agencies will move out of the capital region and on what timetable. The direction and principles for relocating the ministries still based in the Seoul area are expected to be disclosed. For public institutions including the Financial Supervisory Service, the government is expected to focus on "function reform" and release relocation plans at a later date, according to sources.
The Prime Minister's Office said on the 2nd that the government will hold a press conference on the relocation of administrative and public agencies and the reform of public institution functions at the Government Complex Seoul on the morning of the 3rd. Prime Minister Han Seong-sook, Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung, Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kim Yun-duk and Vice Minister of Finance and Economy Heo Jang will attend.
Under its policy agenda, the government aims to announce relocation plans for central administrative agencies and public institutions within this year and to begin the moves in 2027. The upcoming announcement will cover the direction, targets and timetable for moving central administrative agencies out of the capital region. The government has been reviewing ways to strengthen the administrative functions of Sejong and to relocate additional central agencies still in the Seoul area. The Financial Services Commission, the Personal Information Protection Commission and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family have been cited as leading candidates.
For public institutions such as the Financial Supervisory Service, the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Korea Development Bank, the announcement is expected to emphasize function reform rather than detailed relocation plans. That would leave the government firming up the relocation of central administrative agencies first and pursuing the relocation of public institutions in stages.
Relocating public institutions involves competing interests, including the nature of each organization's work, competition among regions to host them and resistance from employees. Labor unions at the Financial Supervisory Service and the deposit insurer oppose moving out of the capital region, and resistance has also continued at state-run lenders including the Korea Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of Korea and Industrial Bank of Korea over the possibility of relocation.
Realigning overlapping functions and merging or abolishing agencies are also being raised as options for the function reform of public institutions. Financial industry unions are watching closely for signs that the reform could lead to mergers of some organizations. Scenarios floated in the financial sector have included realigning the overlapping functions of the Korea Technology Finance Corporation and the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, and of the Export-Import Bank of Korea and the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, or merging the institutions outright.
