85% of FSS staff consider quitting if watchdog moves out of Seoul
Summary
The prospect of moving the Financial Supervisory Service outside Seoul is fueling fears of a sharper staff exodus, according to industry officials Sunday. The Cabinet may begin deliberations on the relocation as early as next week. The FSS labor union said 85.6 percent of 1,538 surveyed employees would consider leaving if the watchdog moved, rising to 92.5 percent for workers under 40.
Key Facts
- FSS data show 481 employees left the watchdog between 2022 and July 2026, with more than 100 departures in each year.
- This year alone, 54 employees have already left the Financial Supervisory Service.
- Employees in their 20s, 30s and 40s accounted for 180 departures, or 37.4 percent of the total.
- The FSS labor union said its Aug. 17 statement warned that relocation could move supervisory authority away from the front lines of oversight.
- The union and the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation unions plan to hold a joint press conference outside Cheong Wa Dae Monday to oppose the relocation drive.
Possible relocation to Sejong raises fears of deeper staff exodus
The Financial Supervisory Service headquarters in Seoul / Korea Times file
The prospect of relocating the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) outside Seoul is raising fears that it could accelerate an exodus of staff that is already well underway, according to industry officials Sunday.
The FSS is among the financial institutions being considered for relocation to Sejong, Korea’s administrative capital, as part of President Lee Jae Myung’s broader push to move government agencies out of the Seoul area and ease the country’s heavy concentration around the capital. The Cabinet is expected to begin deliberations as early as next week on the relocation drive.
FSS data show that 481 employees left the watchdog between 2022 and July 2026, with more than 100 departing each year. So far this year, 54 employees have already left.
Younger staff have accounted for a growing share of departures, with employees in their 20s, 30s and 40s accounting for 180, or 37.4 percent, of the total. They made up half of those who left this year.
Amid the ongoing staff exodus, the prospect of relocation has heightened concerns that the FSS could lose even more experienced professionals, including lawyers, accountants and other specialists.
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 were relocated outside Seoul. The figure rose to 92.5 percent among employees under 40.
In its Aug. 17 statement, the union warned that the government’s push could “end up moving the supervisory authority away from the front lines of oversight,” as Seoul’s concentration of banks, brokerages and other key market institutions makes close contact essential for authorities regarding issues that require rapid responses.
It added that there was no precedent among major developed economies for separating financial regulators from the centers of their capital markets, citing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Reserve, the UK Financial Conduct Authority and Japan’s Financial Services Agency.
The unions of the FSS and the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation plan to hold a joint press conference outside Cheong Wa Dae Monday to publicly oppose the government’s relocation drive.
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