Nearly 10,000 civil servants heading to Sejong raise jeonse and rental shortage fears

With a government survey on civil servants' housing needs for the second phase of administrative agency relocation now complete, the National Agency for Administrative City Construction has begun moving in earnest on settlement support — covering housing and transportation — for relocating officials. The agency plans to strengthen its internal organization to track the progress of relocating agencies and will draw up lease stabilization measures for Sejong and the Osong area of North Chungcheong Province, where demand for jeonse and monthly rent is expected to surge.

The agency recently decided on an internal policy to adjust its staffing levels, according to government sources Thursday. It plans to add grade-6 personnel to its International Cooperation and Informatization Team to monitor the status of relocating agencies and strengthen practical support functions, including short-term accommodation for civil servants during the transition.

The team oversees settlement support for agencies and residents moving to the administrative city. Its core duties include building cooperative networks with state-funded research institutions and coordinating relocation-related work with Sejong City and other relevant bodies.

Rather than immediately expanding a large dedicated unit for the second relocation phase, the agency intends to keep the initial organization lean and add staff incrementally as the relocation progresses.

"Personnel assignments have not yet been made, but as the team's functions are strengthened, there will be a need to continuously monitor and respond to developments among relocating agencies — so we have taken the relevant steps," an agency official said.

The government plans to relocate 44 central administrative agencies from Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to Sejong in phases from next year through 2031. The second relocation wave includes five ministries not part of the first phase, which began in 2012: the Financial Services Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Unification, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. The number of civil servants set to move to Sejong in phases starting next year stands at 9,929.

Alongside its organizational restructuring, the agency will also work to secure office space for relocating agencies. In line with the pan-government second relocation plan announced earlier, it will acquire land for new government buildings based on the size and characteristics of each agency.

Available sites under consideration include roughly 90,000 square meters of unused land and about 1.48 million square meters of undetermined reserve land out of a total 640,000 square meters of government building sites. The agency is also reviewing the potential use of about 300,000 square meters of as-yet-unallocated commercial land that could be rezoned for government buildings.

For agencies relocating in 2027, the agency plans to work with Sejong City and other relevant bodies to arrange temporary office space in private buildings, given the time required to construct new headquarters. Securing leasable buildings to minimize operational disruptions during the early transition period is also among the agency's support priorities.

The agency will also work to ensure stable housing for relocating civil servants and their families. Drawing on the results of a housing preference survey recently conducted by the Ministry of Personnel Management, it plans to finalize measures covering housing supply and the stabilization of both the sales and rental markets. The pan-government relocation support TF had surveyed relocating civil servants through last month on their intention to move to Sejong, whether they would bring their families, and their preferred housing type.

The agency is particularly concerned about supply-demand imbalances in the jeonse and monthly rent market rather than the sales market. With 5,000 to 6,000 housing units expected to be supplied in Sejong annually, the volume available for purchase is seen as relatively adequate — but rental listings needed by civil servants settling in during the early phase could fall short.

To address this, the agency plans to extend its housing support coverage beyond the administrative city within Sejong to include the adjacent Osong area of North Chungcheong Province when drawing up its jeonse and monthly rent measures. Since a significant number of civil servants are expected to prefer renting over buying in the early stages of relocation, the agency believes the rental market in neighboring areas must also be taken into account.

"With 5,000 to 6,000 units expected to be supplied in Sejong each year, we don't think there will be a shortage of homes to buy," a government official said. "But jeonse and monthly rental listings could fall short relative to demand, which is why we understand the housing support area is being expanded to develop a lease stabilization plan."

The agency also plans to establish a pan-government cooperation framework to support the stable settlement of relocating civil servants and their families. It will form a consultative body for central administrative agency relocation support, bringing together Sejong City, Korea Land and Housing Corporation and other relevant organizations. The body will discuss a comprehensive relocation support plan covering not only housing supply and transportation network expansion but also broader living infrastructure including education, culture and welfare services.