Minister Kim Yun-duk of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 3rd that "relocating public institutions to the provinces is the most effective means to ease concentration in the capital area and create new growth engines and quality jobs in the regions," adding that "we will minimize remaining in the capital area."
The Minister said at a press conference on the transfer of administrative and public institutions and the reform of public institution functions, held that day at Government Complex Seoul and chaired by the prime minister, that minimizing remaining in the capital area is the principle for the second transfer of public institutions.
The Minister assessed that, regarding the transfer of 150 institutions and more than 50,000 people located in the capital area to Sejong City and 10 innovation cities, "regional key industries have grown around the transferred institutions, and positive changes have appeared in regional economies, such as expanded hiring of local talent and increased local government tax revenue."
At the same time, the Minister noted, "It was not sufficient to fundamentally reverse the trend of concentration in the capital area." The Minister went on, "As transferred institutions were dispersed across multiple regions, there were aspects in which institutional transfers did not sufficiently drive regional development."
The Minister emphasized that the second transfer will serve as a practical opportunity to overcome the limitations of the first transfer while leading regional development.
To that end, the Minister presented five principles: minimizing remaining in the capital area, clustered placement, linking with regional industries and universities, expanding self-sufficient settlement infrastructure, and transferring with speed.
The Minister said, "We will fully reexamine the criteria for remaining that were applied during the first transfer," adding, "If an institution is not one that must remain, in principle we will include it as a transfer target." The Minister added, "We will cluster institutions that are functionally related and place them together," and "to maximize the spillover effects of the transfer, we will push transfers centered on existing innovation cities, and fully consider the five-pole, three-special growth engines and existing innovation city function groups."
In addition, the Minister announced plans to link with regional industries and universities and to expand settlement infrastructure. The Minister emphasized, "Through industry-academia cooperation, we will create quality jobs and ensure that transferred public institutions play an anchor role leading regional growth and innovation," adding, "Through close cooperation between the central and local governments, we will dramatically improve settlement conditions such as transportation, education, medical care, and culture, and nurture innovation cities into premium cities befitting regional growth hubs."
The Minister then signaled a speedy transfer. The Minister said, "As with the first transfer, without waiting for new government buildings to be constructed, we will use private building leases and the like to immediately begin leading transfers starting next year," adding, "Compared with the first transfer, we will significantly raise the level of support and provide robust support to institutions that transfer farther and faster." The Minister added, "We will also prepare effective housing support measures to minimize the burden on employees of transferred institutions who must move their living bases in a short period."
The Minister said a transfer plan will be announced within the year through a public consultation process. The Minister said, "We will begin a full-fledged public consultation process targeting local governments and labor circles," adding, "We will fully listen to the diverse views on the ground and prepare and announce within the year a reasonable transfer plan that everyone can agree on."