Incheon district mayor vows to fight relocation of overseas Koreans agency to Sejong

Yeonsu-gu District Mayor Lee Jae-ho has come out in direct opposition to the government's plan to relocate the Overseas Koreans Agency to Sejong, urging the administration to scrap the move.

Lee, who oversees Songdo International City where the agency is based, said the government announced the relocation plan without prior consultation with the local community. "The accessibility and international exchange infrastructure that justified bringing the agency to Incheon in the first place remain fully valid," he said.

Lee called on Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae, National Assembly member Jeong Il-young and the Yeonsu-gu district council to mount an active campaign against the relocation, signaling that the question of keeping the agency in Songdo has grown beyond a routine administrative reshuffling into a matter of Incheon's competitiveness as an international city and the accountability of its political representatives.

"We cannot accept a decision that would strip away a vital engine of growth for Yeonsu-gu and an asset that residents have long cherished," Lee said. "We will use every available means to fight this until the plan to move the Overseas Koreans Agency to Sejong is withdrawn."

The statement is Lee's formal response to the government's announcement Tuesday of its plan to relocate central government agencies from the greater Seoul area to Sejong. Under that plan, the Overseas Koreans Agency was identified as a candidate for relocation in the first half of 2027.

At the heart of Lee's objections are the rationale for the move and the consistency of government policy. The Overseas Koreans Agency opened in Songdo International City, Incheon, in June 2023.

At the time, Incheon made its case on the strength of its proximity to Incheon International Airport and its established base of international organizations and global companies.

"Those locational advantages have not changed," Lee said. "Moving a national agency that has been open for less than four years undermines administrative continuity and public trust in government policy."

If there are operational issues with the current premises, Lee said, the solution should be securing a dedicated building within Songdo — not uprooting the agency to another city.

Lee's position marks an escalation: where Yeonsu-gu had previously called for the agency to remain in Songdo, Lee is now explicitly demanding that the government withdraw its relocation plan entirely.

Lee also turned up the pressure on Incheon's political leadership. He urged Mayor Park to take a clearer public stance against the relocation and formally call on the government to reverse course.

He was also critical of Incheon city's response since the announcement. The city, which had previously pledged to build a dedicated agency building in Songdo, has since floated alternatives such as attracting an overseas Korean education and culture center — a pivot Lee appeared to view as insufficient.

Lee directed Assembly member Jeong to take concrete steps toward scrapping the relocation altogether.

He noted that Jeong had previously stated he received assurances from the foreign minister that there were no plans to move the agency, and said the lawmaker must now be held accountable to the promises made to local residents.

Lee also called on Democratic Party of Korea members of the Yeonsu-gu district council to join the unified response.

He pointed out that six Democratic Party district council members had not signed last month's resolution on the issue, and said they must set aside political considerations and stand with the community in demanding the agency stay in Songdo.

The controversy over the agency's relocation is also becoming entangled with Yeonsu-gu's separate bid to host a maritime court in Incheon.

Lee said the same factors underpinning the agency's presence in Songdo — proximity to Incheon International Airport, the concentration of international organizations, and the location of the Incheon Port Authority — also form the basis of the district's case for hosting the maritime court.

He raised concerns that if the pattern of moving major institutions out of the area under the banner of balanced regional development continues — citing Mayor Park's campaign pledge to relocate the Incheon Port Authority to Jeomulpo — Yeonsu-gu's competitive standing could erode.

However, the specific connection between a potential Incheon Port Authority relocation and the maritime court siting decision would need to be examined separately.

Lee said he would take a firm stand against both the relocation of the Overseas Koreans Agency to Sejong and any move of the Incheon Port Authority.

He called for the government to withdraw its relocation plan and for Incheon city, local Assembly members and the district council to mount a coordinated response.

The dispute over the agency's relocation has moved beyond a question of where a government office should be housed. It has expanded into a broader test of whether Incheon can hold onto the national institutions it has secured and how the government and the city will honor the commitments they made to the local community.

The government's final decision on the relocation and Incheon city's response are expected to prove the decisive turning point in the conflict ahead.