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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

Five Power Generators to Merge After 25 Years as Ministries Plan Move to Sejong

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • South Korea plans to begin moving the Justice Ministry, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and other central agencies from the Seoul region to Sejong in the first half of 2027.
  • The government plans to merge five power-generation companies under Korea Electric Power, combine the state oil and gas companies, and consolidate four regional port authorities.
  • It also plans to announce relocation plans for about 350 public institutions in the fourth quarter and begin moving them next year.

South Korea’s government plans to start relocating the Justice Ministry, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and their affiliated agencies to Sejong in the first half of 2027.

Prime Minister Han Seong-sook announced the plans on Sept. 3 alongside a broader restructuring of public institutions. The government will seek to amend the Multifunctional Administrative City Act so the two ministries can be moved, and will ask parliament to support the necessary budget in next year’s spending plan.

Balanced growth is no longer a matter of choice, but a survival strategy for a sustainable Republic of Korea.

· Han Seong-sookThe prime minister presented the relocation and public-sector restructuring plans.

The plan also includes major changes to state-owned companies. The five power-generation firms created in 2001 through the restructuring of the electricity industry, South East Power, Central Power, Western Power, Southern Power and East-West Power, will be merged into a single company tentatively named Korea Power. The Korea National Oil Corporation and Korea Gas Corporation will be combined into a proposed Energy Resources Corporation, while the port authorities in Busan, Incheon, Ulsan and Yeosu-Gwangyang will be brought under one Korea Port Corporation.

We will push ahead with the relocation of public institutions to the regions at speed.

· Han Seong-sookHan described the government’s timetable for moving institutions outside the Seoul region.

The government says the corporate mergers will respond to supply-chain risks and build an energy-security system. It plans to reduce the number of public institutions through 109 mergers and consolidations. Relocation plans for about 350 public institutions in the Seoul metropolitan area will be announced in the fourth quarter, with moves beginning next year.

The government also aims to complete a presidential office in Sejong by August 2029 and the Sejong branch of the National Assembly by 2033. The relocation status of the Financial Services Commission and the Personal Information Protection Commission was not included in the announcement. Interior Minister Yoon Ho-joong said that omission did not mean the bodies were excluded. The government said it would now begin public consultation with local governments and labor groups.

This does not mean they are excluded from relocation.

· Yoon Ho-joongThe interior minister commented on agencies not named in the initial relocation announcement.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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