Public Agency Pushes for 1.8 Billion Won Seoul Branch at Yongsan Park Slated for Young and Newlywed Housing

Boo Seungchan: “Defense Rapid Acquisition Institute to Establish 1,500-Pyeong Branch on Former Defense Acquisition Program Administration Site”


Defense Acquisition Program Administration Omitted from Second Phase Relocation Review


Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport: “Under Review as Relocation Candidate”

An institution under review for the second phase of public agency relocations is moving forward with plans to establish a Seoul branch by investing 1.8 billion won at a site in Yongsan Park, which is slated for young people and newlywed housing supply. The Defense Rapid Acquisition Technology Research Institute is planning to set up a branch office covering 1,500 pyeong on the former site of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. This move to secure a separate office building at a candidate site for housing supply—before a decision has even been made on the agency’s relocation—has the potential to spark controversy.

Seungchan Boo, member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

According to materials submitted by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Boo Seungchan on September 29, the agency is planning to merge the Seoul-based Defense Rapid Acquisition Institute and the Daejeon-based Civil-Military Cooperation Promotion Institute into a newly established “Civil-Military Convergence Technology Institute.” The plan is to use the old Defense Media Agency building—located on the former site of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration within Yongsan Park—as the Seoul branch office.

The Seoul branch will occupy five floors, with a total area of about 1,500 pyeong. A total of 1.888 billion won is expected to be spent on heating and cooling systems, electrical and telecommunications work, and other renovations.

The budget execution process is already underway. In March, the board of the Agency for Defense Development—which oversees the Defense Rapid Acquisition Institute—approved the use of 488 million won from the necessary Seoul branch construction budget. Additionally, 180 million won from the Defense Rapid Acquisition Institute’s own budget will be used, and the remaining approximately 1.22 billion won will be funded from the Agency for Defense Development’s research and development reserve fund.

The Defense Rapid Acquisition Institute is one of the organizations under consideration for relocation in the government’s second phase of public agency relocations. In a response submitted to lawmaker Boo’s office on the 18th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport confirmed that the Defense Rapid Acquisition Institute is “under review as a candidate for phase two of the agency relocation.”

The core issue is that the review of relocation and the push for the new Seoul branch are proceeding simultaneously. Notably, the former Defense Acquisition Program Administration property—where the new branch is to be established—has been cited by the government as a possible site for new housing for young people and newlyweds within Yongsan Park.

Another point of contention is whether information about the institution was properly shared among relevant ministries during the course of the second phase relocation review. In January, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport requested input on the second phase relocation from each ministry and sent an official document to the Ministry of National Defense. However, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration was not included among the recipients.

As a result, feedback from the six agencies in the Ministry of National Defense’s reply did not include the Defense Rapid Acquisition Institute. This omission has been pointed out as a reason why the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport failed to separately assess the possibility of relocating organizations under the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport aims to finalize the second phase public agency relocation plan by the end of this year. Given this schedule, there have been calls to check whether the relocation and office plans for public agencies in the Seoul metropolitan area are being sufficiently shared among relevant ministries before any final decisions are made, and whether any organizations have been left out of the review process.

Lawmaker Boo remarked, “Since both the Yongsan Park housing supply plan and phase two of public agency relocations are core policies being pushed by the Lee Jaemyung administration, they must be prepared thoroughly.” He added, “Before finalizing which institutions will be included in the second phase of agency relocations, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport should conduct a special review to ensure that no public agencies in the Seoul metropolitan area have been omitted from the review process, and to confirm that the agencies under review are not avoiding relocation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.