[Editorial] Completing Sejong as Administrative Capital: Settlement and Efficiency Are Key

Work in Sejong but live in the Seoul metropolitan area? Not practical

Relocation must account for each agency's functions and coordination needs

Reconsider the Financial Services Commission's move in light of its unique role

Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Hojung (third from left) greets attendees before announcing detailed plans for the second relocation of central government agencies at Government Complex Seoul on the 13th. Yonhap News

Forty-four institutions, including central administrative agencies, and 10,000 civil servants will relocate to Sejong in stages starting next year. This is an important step toward easing the concentration of activity in the Seoul metropolitan area and shifting the center of government operations to Sejong. But moving government offices alone will not complete the administrative capital. Above all, people need to move there and live there. If civil servants leave their families in the Seoul metropolitan area and continue commuting back and forth every weekend, Sejong will remain only a half-finished administrative capital. Families will be able to settle there only if the city offers not just housing, education and medical care, but also jobs for spouses and suitable cultural and transportation options.

It is also important to ensure that government functions operate effectively. The division of responsibilities and meeting arrangements should be designed to align with the schedules for establishing the President’s Sejong Office and the National Assembly Sejong Building. Whether and how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense should relocate must be decided carefully, taking into account the particular demands of international cooperation and national security. A uniform relocation policy that disregards the functions of individual agencies could instead make government operations less efficient.

The Financial Services Commission, in particular, whose relocation is scheduled for the second half of next year, needs to be reconsidered. Moving closer to Sejong’s economic ministries has advantages, but the ability to respond swiftly to market conditions is vital to financial policy. The Financial Supervisory Service, financial companies and the Bank of Korea are concentrated in Seoul; if the Financial Services Commission is the only one moved away, coordination on policy and supervision could become more difficult. The relocation of the Financial Supervisory Service is being considered separately, but the options should be examined broadly, including leaving the functions needed in Seoul there by distinguishing between policy coordination and market response.

More than 3 trillion won will be spent on constructing new government offices alone. The results must be commensurate with that investment. Success should be measured not by the number of institutions relocated, but by whether civil servants and their families have actually settled in Sejong, whether time spent traveling on business and commuting has decreased, and whether government services have improved. Completing Sejong as the administrative capital is a national task that must succeed, so preparations must be thorough, with settlement and efficiency as the guiding priorities.

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