Unions at Nonghyup, Korea Inclusive Finance Agency and credit recovery body push back against relocation plans

Unions at public institutions facing relocation out of Seoul held a joint press conference Tuesday in front of Cheong Wa Dae, calling on the government to scrap the plans. Representatives from the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, Korea Inclusive Finance Agency, Credit Counseling and Recovery Service and Korea Teachers' Credit Union took part.

The branches of the National Office and Finance Service Workers' Union said the relocation drive was "a one-size-fits-all policy that ignores each institution's function and founding purpose," and urged the government to halt it immediately.

The unions said each institution differs in its founding purpose, legal character, funding structure and operational role, yet the government was pushing ahead with blanket relocations without regard for those differences. "This is not balanced regional development — it risks becoming a hasty move that undermines the public functions and institutional integrity of each organization," they said, adding that workers directly affected by the relocations had not been adequately consulted.

The unions said balanced regional development must not come at the cost of eroding the autonomy of cooperative and mutual-aid organizations, or weakening the expertise of inclusive finance and credit recovery bodies. They warned that if the government pressed ahead with unilateral relocations without sufficient review or consultation with those involved, the National Office and Finance Service Workers' Union and all its affiliated branches would resist to the end.

After the press conference, the unions delivered a joint statement to Cheong Wa Dae.

Du Si-ung, chair of the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency union, said relocating the headquarters would destroy the agency's policy finance collaboration network and sharply reduce its ability to respond to crises. "The headquarters' core functions — drawing up emergency measures when financial crises or illegal private lending run rampant, and negotiating loss-sharing arrangements with commercial banks — would become physically isolated," he said. Du also released results of an internal survey showing that 79.1 percent of agency employees opposed the relocation and 43.5 percent were seriously considering resigning or changing jobs if it went ahead.

Jeong Jang-ho, chair of the Credit Counseling and Recovery Service union, said the relocation would bring no practical benefit while making debt-adjustment operations less efficient, delaying and complicating the financial recovery of citizens struggling with debt. He said close cooperation with financial companies, the banking associations that represent them and the Seoul Bankruptcy Court — the top oversight body for debt-adjustment policy — was essential for sound policy development, and urged that the organization remain in Seoul to ensure that cooperation could continue.