Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said on the 5th that, regarding the second public institution transfer the government is pursuing, it will minimize remaining in the greater Seoul area and avoid "divvying-up style dispersal placements."
After Roh Moo-hyun's administration drew up a public institution transfer plan in 2003, by the end of 2019, 153 institutions located in the greater Seoul area, including Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), transferred to 10 innovation cities nationwide and Sejong. The Lee Jae-myung administration plans to transfer some of the more than 350 that remain in the greater Seoul area starting next year.
Kim presided over the 10th National Policy Coordination Meeting held on the morning of the 5th at Government Complex Seoul. On the agenda was "Status and future plans for the second public institution transfer for balanced development," which was taken up for discussion.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, Kim said, "This second transfer is part of a structural reform to ease the single-core system centered on the greater Seoul area and to pluralize regional growth engines by dispersing population, jobs, and capital," adding, "Based on the achievements and lessons learned from the first transfer, we will reexamine from scratch the criteria for exceptions to transfer."
He added, "To maximize the effects of the transfer, we will create clusters so that regions become practical growth hubs by linking them to specialized industries in the five poles and three special zones," and said, "Through a full survey of target institutions and a demand survey of local governments, we will draw up a rational and systematic roadmap."