Government to Relocate 177 Out of 346 Public Institutions

The relocation of 177 public organizations has been decided on.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation (MOCT) and the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development reported in a general meeting of the National Assembly’s Construction and Transportation Committee that 177 out of 346 public institutions to be relocated have been tentatively decided on.

The institutions to be relocated are 68 government-affiliated institutions including the Central Officials Training Institute, 54 government-donated institutions, including the Korea Development Institute, 21 government-funded companies (including reinvestment organizations) such as the Korea National Tourism Organization, five government-invested institutions and 29 other public corporations.

If the relocation is carried out according to the plan, the government estimates that some 32,010 people (based on the number of personnel in head offices) and a total 2.3975 trillion won (based on 2004 statistics) in local taxes will be moved to the relocated area.

The government has included Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), the nation’s largest public institution, on the list of institutions to be relocated for the time being, but will undergo a discussion session and finally decide on its relocation at a meeting with ministers from the Construction and Transportation, Government Administration and Home Affairs, Commerce, Industry and Energy, and Planning and Budget Ministries, the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development, and 12 city mayors and provincial governors on May 27.

Referring to the KEPCO relocation issue, MOCT Minister Choo Byung-jik said that the government will choose between a plan to reduce the number of public institutions to be relocated in the area where KEPCO is to be transferred, and a plan to put a radioactive waste treatment facility in the proposed relocation area.

Yeon-WookJung jyw11@donga.com