HMM (011200), South Korea's largest shipping company, has settled into an interim office in Busan to begin what it calls its Busan era. But only a handful of staff have moved from Seoul, leaving the substance of the headquarters relocation in doubt.
HMM employees began reporting to the interim headquarters, located on the 14th through 17th floors of the DB Insurance building in Busan's Busanjin District, on the 12th, according to shipping industry sources on the 14th. On the 13th, the company held a plaque unveiling ceremony attended by President Lee Jae-myung and others, marking the start of the interim office arrangement that will remain in place until a new building is completed. HMM Chief Executive Choi Won-hyuk plans to keep an office there and split his time between Seoul and Busan.
Skepticism about the move persists inside the company, according to sources. Of the roughly 120 people now working at the interim headquarters, about 100 are local employees already based in Busan, including those at the existing Busan sales division. Only about 20 have actually relocated from the company's headquarters in Seoul's Yeouido district. With 800 to 900 of HMM's roughly 900 to 1,000 shore-based employees still in Seoul, critics say the company has changed the sign on its headquarters without moving much else.
Many Seoul-based employees are reluctant to move because of the disruption to their lives and concerns about their children's schooling. On the business side, sources said there is widespread internal concern that shifting sales and other key units to Busan would cost more than it gains, since it would mean giving up the network access that Yeouido offers for meetings and negotiations with overseas counterparts such as global carriers and shippers.
HMM recently ran an internal call for volunteers willing to work in Busan in order to send more Seoul staff, and finished gauging interest early this week. The company plans to analyze the applications and employee sentiment in detail before discussing the eventual scale of the move and how to organize operations. To encourage voluntary transfers, the company has also put together incentives that include housing and settlement benefits. It has kept the specific terms confidential to avoid unnecessary controversy and speculation.
In the Busan community, officials point out that the regional impact will remain limited unless the core decision-making units that serve as a control tower — sales, finance and freight rate setting — also move. Responding to criticism that the company has set no clear standard for which departments or what share of staff will relocate, HMM said: "Unilaterally designating a particular unit and sending it down requires consultation and agreement with the labor union." The company added, "There is still time before we move into the new building at the North Port, so we plan to continue discussions step by step based on the results of this survey."