Ministry of Justice, Gender Equality Ministry moves to Sejong pushed to June — too late for school year

'February move physically impossible,' officials say, leaving relocating civil servants scrambling to revise family plans; agency opts for vacant commercial space over new building

An aerial view of Government Complex Sejong. [Government Complex Management Headquarters]

Civil servants preparing to relocate to Sejong with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family are facing a difficult recalculation after officials indicated the two ministries' moves will likely not be completed until June next year — well past the start of the new school year in February.

According to government officials Saturday, completing the relocation of the two ministries before the first semester begins in February is not feasible, with June cited as the earliest realistic target.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety's Government Complex Management Headquarters, which is overseeing the placement arrangements, has concluded that a February move — before the first semester begins — is physically impossible given the preparation time required.

As a result, employees at the affected ministries who had planned to time their moves around their children's school enrollment or transfer in Sejong will now have to rework those plans entirely.

"I was hoping to move before the school year started in February to spare my children the disruption of transferring mid-semester," one civil servant at a ministry slated for relocation said. "If it slips to June, we'll have to completely overhaul our family's moving plans."

Vacant commercial space to be used instead of new building, in bid to revive local economy

Beyond the moving timeline, employees at the affected ministries are also closely watching where their offices will actually be located.

The Multifunctional Administrative City Construction Agency, known as MACCA, which operates under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and oversees construction for the complex, has decided not to build a separate new government building for the incoming ministries. The decision was driven by a desire to address the serious problem of vacant commercial space in Sejong and to stimulate the local economy.

"We concluded it would be better to make use of vacant space in privately owned buildings near the complex in order to boost the local economy," a senior MACCA official said. "For that reason, we did not include a budget for constructing a new building in next year's budget proposal." The two ministries are accordingly expected to lease space in large commercial buildings near Government Complex Sejong rather than move into a newly constructed facility.

Prime Minister Han Seong-sook, at a Sept. 3 press conference held at Government Complex Seoul to announce plans for relocating central government agencies and reforming public institution functions, said central government agencies based in the greater Seoul area would begin moving to Sejong Special Self-Governing City from the first half of next year, starting with those whose scale and ripple effects are largest. She added that a presidential office in Sejong would be completed in August 2029, and that construction of a National Assembly annex in Sejong, set for completion in 2033, would proceed on schedule, making Sejong the center of the country's administration.

Presidential office, National Assembly construction picking up pace as Sejong takes shape as administrative capital

On top of the ministerial relocations, MACCA is directing all of its administrative resources toward completing the presidential Sejong office within the Lee Jae-myung administration's term, a project seen as essential to establishing Sejong as a full-fledged administrative capital.

MACCA had originally planned to finalize the design through an open competition by July next year, but renegotiated the contract with the design firm to move that deadline up by a month to June. Because the design must still pass review by the Ministry of Planning and Budget and the Public Procurement Service before construction can begin, pulling the design schedule forward was seen as necessary to preserve the full construction window.

To meet the construction timeline, MACCA has moved away from blanket land-leveling in favor of a tailored site-preparation approach that preserves the natural contours of the terrain in line with the design.

The architectural concept calls for a dispersed layout — multiple separate office buildings spread across the site — rather than a single unified structure like the Yongsan presidential office or the White House. This design is also well suited to breaking ground on all buildings simultaneously, helping bring the completion date forward.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety, MACCA and other relevant agencies see passage of a special law on the administrative capital — which would include the full relocation of the National Assembly — as the single most important milestone for completing the vision of Sejong as an administrative capital. Officials expect that infrastructure projects such as a tram line connecting Cheongju Airport to the government complex will gain real momentum only after that legislation passes.

Kang Ju-yeop, head of the Multifunctional Administrative City Construction Agency, briefs ruling and opposition members of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee during their site inspection of the National Assembly Sejong annex site in Sejong last October. [Yonhap]

Sejong Backbriefing is a series by a Sejong-based reporter covering informal government briefings, the subtext behind policy announcements, and behind-the-scenes stories from the bureaucratic world. The column aims to deepen readers' understanding of policy while sharing the everyday news of civil servants, offering both information and a more personal look at life in the capital.

thlee@heraldcorp.com