Gov't to begin 'pioneer relocations' of public institutions out of Greater Seoul next year

The government is set to launch a second round of relocations of administrative and public institutions from Greater Seoul to non-metropolitan regions. Under the guiding principle of minimizing institutions remaining in Greater Seoul, the plan favors clustering agencies with similar functions in existing innovation cities rather than dispersing them. Target institutions will be identified through reviews by relevant ministries and deliberations by a special relocation committee under the Commission for a Balanced Era of Local Governments by year's end, with pioneer relocations set to begin as early as next year.

South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced Thursday the principles and direction for the second round of public institution relocations to the regions, saying it would launch a full public consultation process with local governments, labor groups and other stakeholders.

"The second round of public institution relocations must serve as a meaningful turning point that overcomes the limitations of the first round and leads regional development," Land Minister Kim Yun-deok said. "We will push ahead with the second round of relocations with full force."

The five guiding principles the government laid out for the second round are: minimizing institutions remaining in Greater Seoul, clustering agencies in existing innovation cities, linking institutions to regional universities and industries, building self-sustaining residential infrastructure, and executing relocations at speed.

The government will first work to minimize the number of institutions staying in Greater Seoul, with a policy of including all agencies in the relocation pool unless there is a compelling reason for them to remain. Institutions with related functions will be grouped together and placed in existing innovation cities, with ties to local industries and universities to be pursued.

To maximize the population growth effect in regional areas, improvements to residential infrastructure — including transportation, education, healthcare and culture — will be pursued alongside the relocations. Unlike the first round, which took more than seven years from announcement to actual relocation, the second round will move quickly by leasing private buildings, with relocations set to begin next year.

Target institutions will be confirmed in stages through reviews by relevant ministries and deliberations and votes by the special relocation committee under the Commission for a Balanced Era of Local Governments, with the process to be completed by the fourth quarter of this year. Support measures will also be significantly enhanced: on top of the relocation allowance and long-distance preference allowance of 200,000 won ($146) per month for two years paid during the first round, an early-relocation allowance of up to 500,000 won per month for two years will be newly introduced.

The second round's emphasis on clustering agencies directly in existing innovation cities reflects the government's assessment that the first round produced only limited real-world impact. While the first round of public institution relocations briefly boosted population and employment in innovation cities, the benefits were largely confined to the specific towns and villages where those cities were located, falling short of expectations.

The first round of relocations, carried out from 2005 to 2019, moved 150 institutions and about 50,000 workers to Sejong and 10 innovation cities. About 70 percent of relocated workers settled in the regions with their families, and the innovation cities saw growth in businesses, employment and local tax revenues.

The relocations fell short of fundamentally reversing the trend of concentration in Greater Seoul, however, and the dispersed placement of institutions was criticized for weakening industrial clustering effects. Efforts to build residential infrastructure — including transportation, education and healthcare — and to develop industry-academia-research clusters also drew criticism for failing to meet initial expectations.

In practice, the population share of Greater Seoul temporarily slowed its rise through the mid-2010s following the dispersal of institutions in the first round, but from 2017 onward the inflow of people from the metropolitan area into innovation cities effectively ceased.

From 2023, the population of innovation cities began recording a net outflow, and even inflows from within the same broader region turned to net outflows after 2025.

President Lee Jae Myung has acknowledged this reality and has consistently called for concentration rather than dispersal. At a press conference marking the first anniversary of his inauguration last June, Lee said, "Spreading them out like last time reduced the concentration effect. There's less self-generated energy that way. This time, I intend to send them all together."

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to gather input from related ministries, public institutions, labor unions and local governments based on the principles announced Thursday, then finalize and announce the second-round relocation plan during the fourth quarter of this year. Thursday's announcement did not include the specific institutions targeted for relocation, their destination regions or the total scale of the move.

"Balanced national development is an urgent task of our time that can no longer be deferred — it is a vital national survival strategy," Land Minister Kim said. "We will pursue the second round of public institution relocations based on the five principles presented today, while communicating fully with relevant agencies to develop a sound relocation plan."