SEOUL, Sept 3 (Reuters) – South Korea’s government said on Thursday it would establish a presidential office in the administrative city of Sejong by August 2029 and relocate about 350 more public institutions from the Seoul metropolitan region, as part of a drive to curb the capital’s dominance.
The relocations are due to begin in 2027, while the government also plans to complete an additional National Assembly building in Sejong by 2033.
Here are some details:
• Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said the measures form part of a broader strategy to tackle the concentration of population, capital, businesses and infrastructure in the capital region, while other parts of the country confront demographic decline.
• The government will begin moving central government agencies to Sejong in the first half of 2027, prioritising bodies with the largest scale or relocation impact, according to a government statement.
• It will seek to amend the law governing Sejong’s development to allow the relocation of ministries currently excluded from such moves, including the Justice Ministry and the Gender Equality Ministry.
• The Prosecution Service and the National Police Agency will relocate after new headquarters buildings are completed, the government said.
• The plan would mark a second major round of public sector relocations after 43 central government agencies moved to Sejong between 2012 and 2021, it said.
• Separately, the government said it would cut or restructure 109 public institutions by consolidating overlapping functions and merging smaller bodies, including combining the country’s five state power generators and four port authorities.
• Sejong was created in 2012 to relieve congestion in Seoul and already hosts many government ministries, although the presidency has remained based in the capital.
(Reporting by Joyce LeeEditing by Ed Davies)
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