Seoul: The government will move central administrative agencies remaining in the Seoul metropolitan area to the central city of Sejong starting next year, Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said Thursday. The government will also aim to complete a second presidential office in the administrative city by August 2029 and make sure the planned construction of a second National Assembly building in Sejong will be completed as planned by 2030, Han said during a press conference.
According to Yonhap News Agency, "Starting in the first half of 2027, we will push for the relocation of central administrative organizations located in the Seoul metropolitan area to the Sejong special self-governing city, beginning with those with large relocation sizes and ripple effects," Han stated. She emphasized that "Sejong is the symbol and central axis of balanced national development," and mentioned plans to establish a Sejong office of the president by August 2029. This initiative aims to place the administration's center in Sejong while supporting the planned completion of the National Assembly hall there by 2030.
The announcement marks the latest in a series of government agency relocations that have been carried out by successive administrations for more than a decade as part of efforts to ease the concentration of national functions in Seoul and promote balanced national development. Relocations first got under way in 2012 when the prime minister's office became the first central government agency to move to Sejong. According to the National Agency for Administrative City Construction, 44 central government organizations have since completed relocation to the city.
Han also highlighted that public institutions will move to Sejong, adhering to the principle of minimizing those staying put. The government plans to announce specific relocation plans in the fourth quarter of this year for 350 institutions located in the Seoul metropolitan area and start moving them next year. Additionally, Han noted that the number of public institutions will be reduced by 109 through structural reforms, the unification of similar and overlapping functions, and the consolidation of small-scale institutions.
"In response to the rapidly changing policy environment, we will boldly reform the functions of public institutions," Han said. "Each ministry will establish implementation procedures, such as functional reform road maps, and institutions that do not require procedures such as legal amendments will commence implementation immediately."