Lee vows Sejong presidential office era within his term as government doubles construction team

Amid President Lee Jae-myung's pledge to "open the era of the Sejong presidential office within his term," the government is moving to significantly expand and reorganize the Presidential Sejong Office Construction Unit under the Multifunctional Administrative City Construction Agency, known as MACCA. The plan calls for establishing a dedicated National Symbol Zone Division within the unit and doubling its staff to accelerate work on the presidential office and the National Assembly's Sejong chamber as part of the broader National Symbol Zone development.

According to government sources Friday, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and MACCA are preparing to amend the agency's organizational regulations to reflect the changes.

The core of the reorganization is splitting the unit's current single division — the Presidential Office Division — into two: the existing Presidential Office Division and a newly created National Symbol Zone Division. The new division will absorb work currently handled by the overloaded Presidential Office Division and will focus exclusively on developing the master plan and infrastructure for the National Symbol Zone, including coordination with the National Assembly's Sejong chamber.

The overhaul also includes bolstering frontline staff and elevating the unit's command structure. Four additional civil servants at Grade 5 to 7 will be recruited, bringing the unit's total headcount to roughly double its current size. In addition, the unit chief position — previously held concurrently by the director of the facilities and projects bureau — will be converted to a full-time dedicated post, and the grade of assigned division chiefs will be raised from Grade 4.5 to Grade 4 to strengthen project execution.

The restructuring reflects the surge in administrative workload since construction of the presidential office and the National Assembly's Sejong chamber got underway in earnest last year, with completion targeted for 2029 and 2033, respectively. The aim is to expand frontline capacity ahead of the period when construction activity peaks.

President Lee has repeatedly emphasized the relocation to Sejong and the completion of the administrative capital. At a policy briefing in December 2025, he said he hoped the Sejong office project would move quickly, and in April he ordered officials to "push construction forward swiftly so the Sejong office can be used within my term." Cheong Wa Dae at the time set August 2029 — within the president's term — as the move-in target.

At a Cabinet meeting on Aug. 11, Lee urged officials to "give everything we have, with the determination to open the era of the Sejong presidential office within this administration's term and to hold our final Cabinet meeting there as well."

MACCA established the Presidential Office Construction Unit earlier this year, but the rapid growth in operational demand has prompted another round of restructuring and staff expansion just months later.

"The development of the National Symbol Zone, which had stalled for years, has picked up in earnest since last year, increasing the workload, and we are getting ahead of the construction activity to come," a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official said. "Think of it as a small bureau being created within MACCA to handle the National Symbol Zone development." The official added that the agency aims to implement the changes by the end of this month, pending Cabinet approval.

The reorganization will be backed by a sharp increase in funding. The government's proposed budget for Sejong city construction in 2027 totals 568.9 billion won ($425 million), a jump of 95.9 percent from this year's 290.4 billion won — nearly double. If the project proceeds on schedule, the presidential Sejong office is set to be completed in August 2029 and the National Assembly's Sejong chamber in 2033.

The National Symbol Zone is a roughly 2.1 million-square-meter administrative and cultural landmark being developed in Sejong-dong (S-1 zone) in Sejong. The project envisions a layered urban space combining key national government facilities — including the presidential office and the National Assembly chamber — with a central park, a national museum complex and a waterfront area along the Geum River.