The government on the 13th announced a second round of relocations that will move 44 central government agencies and affiliated organizations from the Seoul metropolitan area to Sejong. Twenty-seven bodies, including the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Financial Services Commission, will move next year, while 17 others, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense and the Korean National Police Agency, will relocate in stages through 2031. The stated aim is to promote balanced national development and complete a governing system centered on Sejong as the administrative capital. Yet there is considerable concern that a uniform relocation that ignores the nature of each agency's work could worsen administrative inefficiency and create gaps in operations.
The greatest worry is that moving the FSC will set back South Korea's financial competitiveness and its capacity to respond to crises. With major financial firms concentrated in Seoul, the commission could struggle to communicate with the market and craft policy quickly. The FSC is also closely linked in its work to the Financial Supervisory Service, whose relocation has yet to be decided. Warning signs that the FSS identifies through inspections and continuous monitoring of financial firms feed into the FSC's supervisory policy and its decisions on licensing and sanctions. It is also questionable whether relevant agencies could coordinate swiftly in emergencies such as cyberattacks on the financial sector or a financial crisis — including through the so-called F4 meetings that bring together the heads of the country's economic, financial and monetary authorities.
Relocating the foreign affairs and security ministries also calls for caution. The foreign affairs, unification and defense ministries were excluded from relocation under the law governing the multifunctional administrative city, in recognition of the distinctive nature of their work. Before the law is amended, the government should first examine the effect on the president's handling of diplomacy and national security and on the military chain of command. Even after the first round of relocations, the inefficiency of long-distance travel and consultations between Seoul and Sejong has been pointed out repeatedly. The presidential office in Sejong is slated for occupancy in August 2029, and the National Assembly's Sejong chamber is targeted for completion in 2033. Expanding the list of relocating agencies before the nation's core facilities are even in place is no cure-all.
The government should closely examine how each agency's work is interconnected, along with the costs and benefits of relocation, to ensure that the problems seen during the first round are not repeated. Rather than setting the targets and timing uniformly and rushing ahead, it should adjust them to fit the nature of each agency's work. In particular, if the FSC moves to Sejong, safeguards are needed — such as keeping its crisis-response and market-communication functions in Seoul. Balanced national development is a desirable policy direction. But what matters more than speed is careful policy design.