Park Han-sol reports on Korea's financial regulators, along with fintech and insurance. She previously wrote about the art world, from biennales and exhibitions to fairs and auctions, with a focus on Seoul and the figures shaping the scene. Before joining The Korea Times, she spent a year at ABC News' Seoul bureau, contributing to coverage of major Asia-Pacific events.
'You can't remove heart from body': FSS, KDIC unions rally against relocation out of Seoul
Union members of the Financial Supervisory Service and the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation chant slogans opposing the government's push to relocate financial institutions out of the capital at a joint press conference near Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
By Park Han-sol
Workers warn of potential financial instability, staff exodus
“The Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) are the heart of Korea’s financial stability. And yet the government says it wants to move that heart away from the center of the financial markets. If you take out the heart and put it somewhere else, can you really expect the body to keep functioning normally?”
The voice of Kim Young-heon, head of the KDIC labor union, rang out under the sweltering sun outside Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Monday.
“Heart transplant surgery is among the most delicate procedures, where even a single mistake can be fatal. Keep in mind that our financial system has no anesthesia and no recovery room.”
More than 40 union members from the KDIC and FSS waved bright red placards as Kim continued his speech at a rare joint press conference protesting a government plan to relocate the institutions to Sejong, Korea’s administrative capital.
The relocation drive is part of the Lee Jae Myung administration’s push to move government agencies out of the Seoul area, thus easing the heavy concentration around the capital and promoting more balanced regional development. The Cabinet is expected to begin deliberations as early as Tuesday.
The plan, however, has drawn fierce opposition, particularly from the two institutions’ unions.
Union members of the Financial Supervisory Service and the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation chant slogans opposing the government's push to relocate financial institutions out of the capital at a joint press conference near Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
While backing the government’s broader goal of promoting more balanced growth across the country, they argued that any such move should be preceded by sufficient dialogue among stakeholders and social consensus, given its potential consequences.
The headquarters of financial entities overseen by the FSS and covered by the KDIC are heavily concentrated in the Seoul area, as are much of the financial infrastructure supporting them, including law firms, accounting firms and specialized IT companies.
“As of March 2026, the deposits protected by the KDIC across banks, life and non-life insurers, financial investment companies and savings banks totaled 3,322 trillion won ($2.41 trillion), with more than 70 percent concentrated in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area,” Kim said.
With so much of the financial industry concentrated in the capital region, the unions warned that moving the two agencies outside Seoul could create a potentially devastating gap in oversight by slowing responses to financial crises and corporate failures. Financial crises have a “golden time,” they said, and when every second counts, physical distance between institutions can translate directly into delays in decision-making.
“Just as shipyards need to be by the sea and airports need to be where the skies are open, every piece of critical national infrastructure needs to be located where it can perform its function most effectively,” said Kim Sang-woo, head of the FSS union. “Then, isn’t it only natural to conclude where the FSS, the agency tasked with closely monitoring Korea’s financial companies, needs to be?”
The unions also raised concerns about losing specialized staff, many of whom are accountants, lawyers and actuaries whose expertise has been built up over the years.
In a survey of 1,538 employees conducted by the FSS labor union, 85.6 percent said they would consider leaving the organization if it was relocated outside Seoul. Among employees under 40, the figure rose to 92.5 percent.
The prospect of relocation has also called attention to the burden falling disproportionately on younger workers, who are already juggling decisions about housing, family and career.
“For young workers, having the location of their workplace changed without regard for their choices could mean having their entire life plans upended — whether to delay marriage, give up having children, live apart from their families or abandon the expertise they have spent years building,” they said in a joint statement.
Asked about the possibility of a general strike or other action in the near future, KDIC union leader Kim said they were keeping all options, including legal action, open as the situation develops.