South Gyeongsang Province has narrowed its list of priority targets to nine public agencies among those slated for the second round of relocations out of the capital region and submitted the list to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The province is also seeking the combined headquarters of five state-run power generation companies for the Gyeongnam Innovation City in Jinju, pitching the reuse of the existing Korea South-East Power building as its main selling point.
The province laid out the strategy at a briefing at its press center on the 21st. Officials said they would build their case around the links between the province's core industries and its innovation city.
South Gyeongsang wants a total of 40 agencies. It released that list in August when it launched a province-wide committee to campaign for the second round of relocations. From that pool, it selected nine as priority targets, saying they align with the government's push to overhaul the functions of public institutions and would create synergies with agencies that moved in the first round: the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT), the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning, the Korea Advanced Nano Fab Center, the Korea Environment Corporation, the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, the Construction Technology Education Institute, the Korea Racing Authority, the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency and the Korea Copyright Protection Agency. A broader list of intensive targets runs to 16 agencies, including the Korea Institute of Aviation Safety Technology. The province said the agencies represent industrial support, housing and construction, tourism and functions that connect with first-round arrivals, and that they fit closely with the strategic industries designated as growth engines for the southeastern region under the government's "five poles, three special zones" plan.
KIAT, the energy technology evaluation institute and the nano fab center are tied to the province's industrial base, where strategic sectors such as shipbuilding, defense, nuclear power and aerospace are clustered. The province expects that bringing in these research support bodies would channel corporate assistance and research and development results to the factory floor, driving industrial upgrades.
The Korea Environment Corporation, the civil engineering institute and the construction technology education institute were picked as agencies that could generate synergies with the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) and the Korea Authority of Land & Infrastructure Safety, both already in the Gyeongnam Innovation City, in eco-friendly development, carbon-neutral infrastructure and training construction talent. The Korea Racing Authority was cited as a draw for tourism and leisure, tax revenue and jobs, building on Let's Run Park Busan Gyeongnam, one of only three permanent racecourses in the country.
The Industrial Bank of Korea and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), initially included among the priority targets, were dropped as the strategy was refined, but they remain on the list of 40.
Expecting the second round to gather pace from next year, the province is preparing office and housing space so that arriving agencies can begin work before new buildings are completed.
The other plank is the bid for the combined headquarters of the five state-run power generators. The province is framing its case around cost savings and a "just transition." Taking over the Korea South-East Power building in the Gyeongnam Innovation City as the combined headquarters, it argues, would cut construction costs and time and avoid any administrative gap. With coal-fired plants in Samcheonpo and Hadong set for phased closure, the province says it is the place to put the government's "just energy transition" into practice. It also points to an energy transition ecosystem built on manufacturers in power generation and offshore wind, such as Doosan Enerbility and SK Oceanplant, along with the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute.
South Gyeongsang Governor Park Wan-su recently met in succession with Kim Kyoung-soo, the presidential political affairs adviser, and Lee Hyun-bin, chief executive of Korea South-East Power. "The combined headquarters of the power generation companies should come to the Gyeongnam Innovation City, which makes sense in terms of using existing facilities and industrial linkages," the governor said. "South Gyeongsang must not be left out of the second round of public agency relocations."
The province has made the campaign a core policy task and set up a cooperation framework with politicians and business groups. It held a rally at the National Assembly and delivered a petition signed by 120,000 people to the Blue House, and issued a joint statement with South Gyeongsang lawmakers from both the governing and opposition parties. It is also planning a joint statement with the Gyeongnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Council and a province-wide rally tied to Innovation City Day.
The province is pursuing mega-regional cooperation with Busan and Ulsan at the same time. Under the plan, South Gyeongsang would take manufacturing sectors such as shipbuilding, defense, nuclear power and aerospace, Busan would take maritime, financial and advanced industries, and Ulsan would take clean energy and mobility, so that their targets do not overlap and the three can back one another's bids for the southeastern region. The province plans to convene a working-level council of the three local governments this month to discuss its response on the combined power utility and ways to attract the priority agencies.
"The second round of public agency relocations and the bid for the power generators' combined headquarters are directly tied to securing South Gyeongsang's future growth engines," said Cho Hyun-jun, head of the province's balanced development bureau. "We will work closely with the government and the National Assembly, as well as with Busan and Ulsan, to deliver real results."