[Anchor]

The government has decided to relocate the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to Sejong City in the first half of next year. This marks the full-scale launch of the second wave of public institution relocations, following the first wave initiated during the Roh Moo-hyun administration back in 2005. The relocation of approximately 350 public institutions currently based in the capital area to regional regions will also be pursued.

First, reporter Kim Hye-young has the details.

[Reporter]

The current Special Act on Multifunctional Administrative City explicitly lists five agencies that are excluded from relocation to Sejong City.

The government plans to amend this law and push for the relocation of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family starting in the first half of next year.

[Han Sung-sook / Prime Minister: Starting in the first half of 2027, we will prioritize the relocation of institutions to Sejong Special Self-Governing City based on the scale of relocation and their widespread impact.]

Among the government's 19 ministry-level departments, four currently maintain their headquarters in Seoul: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Unification, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Gyeonggi Province's Gwacheon is home to just one: the Ministry of Justice.

In Busan, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries relocated last year, while the remaining 13 ministries—including the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of Education—are already established in Sejong.

Once Seoul's Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Gwacheon's Ministry of Justice move to Sejong as planned, the number of ministry-level departments in Sejong will increase to 15, while those remaining in the capital area will decrease to 3.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Unification, and the Ministry of National Defense have decided to review their relocation to Sejong in alignment with the completion of the presidential office in Sejong by 2029 and the opening of the National Assembly branch by 2033.

Agencies requiring separate buildings, such as the Public Prosecutors Office, the Major Crime Investigation Agency, and the National Police Agency, will proceed with relocation after constructing new facilities.

Approximately 350 public institutions in the capital area will also begin moving to regional innovation cities starting next year under the principle of "minimizing retention in the capital area."

[Han Sung-sook / Prime Minister: We will avoid piecemeal distribution and instead gather regional growth energy like a bonfire, deploying it directly around innovation cities to maximize the strength of regional hubs.]

The government plans to finalize and officially announce the administrative and public institutions slated for relocation, along with their respective destination regions, in the fourth quarter of this year.

(Camera: Cho Choon-dong, Video Editing: Yu Mi-ra, Design: Im Chan-hyuk, Yang Gi-tae)