Financial institutions oppose gov't's relocation plan
The Korea Financial Industry Union holds a press conference in front of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
Financial institutions have strongly opposed the government's plans to relocate public institutions from Seoul to provincial areas, industry watchers said Wednesday.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has started collecting opinions from public institutions subject to relocation, under a policy of moving as many of them out of Seoul as possible, while the Ministry of the Interior and Safety is pushing ahead with plans to relocate government ministries and agencies.
However, the process remains at an early stage, without a detailed timeline or a list of institutions subject to relocation, although the ministries are accelerating their efforts after President Lee Jae Myung called for leaving no public institutions or agencies in Seoul.
The government, however, has indicated that it will not abandon the relocation plan despite opposition from affected institutions.
"All institutions do not want to go to the provinces, but we cannot drop our relocation plan just because of their strong opposition," an official from the land ministry said, requesting anonymity. "But if they provide a proper explanation for staying in Seoul, that could be acceptable."
As the relocation plan takes shape, some financial institutions have begun taking collective action before the government draws up a final draft.
The Korea Financial Industry Union, a major umbrella labor organization representing financial workers in the country, earlier announced plans to hold a rally later this month and launch a general strike next month if the government pushes ahead with the relocation plan.
In a vote held last week, 96.1 percent of the union members supported the planned general strike.
The union demanded that the government stop pushing ahead with the process, claiming that the relocation plan is a political attempt to undermine policy lenders by excluding financial workers.
Unionized workers at the Korea Development Bank joined forces with workers at other policy lenders, including the Industrial Bank of Korea and the Export-Import Bank of Korea, in opposing the government plan, saying the relocation would undermine their expertise and roles as policy-financing institutions.
The union of the Financial Supervisory Service also issued a statement saying the agency should remain in the capital to ensure effective supervision.
The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, also known as Nonghyup, and other cooperatives have also expressed their opposition to the plan.
Relocation has been a long-term Korean government project aimed at promoting balanced national development, as nearly half of the country's population resides in Seoul and its surrounding areas.
The government established Sejong City in the central region last decade and relocated major government ministries there, including the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.
Most recently, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries moved to the southeastern port city of Busan at the end of last year.