News Prism Examines the Controversy Over Relocating Public Institutions
The government plans to finalize a concrete plan by the end of this year for the second-phase regional relocation of central administrative agencies and public institutions (moving organizations concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area to the provinces), and to begin the relocations in earnest starting next year. Which institutions will move where has yet to be decided, drawing keen public interest.
Of the 355 public institutions nationwide registered on ALIO, the public institution management information disclosure system, 168 (about 50%) are headquartered in the metropolitan area. By region, there are 130 in Seoul, 29 in Gyeonggi, and 9 in Incheon, with Seoul accounting for 77.4% of public institutions in the metropolitan area.
The institutions to be relocated have not yet been finalized. The government plans to reexamine from scratch each institution's need to remain in the metropolitan area, gather opinions from stakeholders including employees and labor unions, and undergo review and approval by the Presidential Committee on Decentralization and Balanced Development, before announcing the relocation targets and plans in the fourth quarter of this year.
The government's announcement of principles for the second-phase public institution relocation has kicked off full-scale competition among local governments to attract the institutions. Localities are citing links to regional industries and balanced development as grounds for attracting them, while regional interests are divided over the government's policy of prioritizing existing innovation cities. In the financial sector, concerns have been raised that the dispersed relocation of financial institutions based in Seoul, the world's eighth-largest financial hub, could undermine their competitiveness.
As the announcement date approaches, social conflict over the relocation of public institutions is expected to intensify. It remains to be seen whether the government can present a reasonable plan that can win the broad consensus of local governments, the employees of institutions slated for relocation, and related businesses.
