CBS, Hanwha Life Insurance building tenants among first to relocate; civil affairs office to open in new building first
![Suncheon's new city hall, where move-in begins this month, will adopt an access security management system similar to the one used in Gwangju. [AI image]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/10/12/news-p.v1.20261012.6a8eb30f188c4f5fa2c465e0a10b87ce_P1.jpg)
Move-in to Suncheon's new city hall, under construction in Jangcheon-dong, begins this week, with the civil affairs office on the first floor opening Oct. 19, followed by a phased relocation of departments through next month.
On Monday morning, Mayor Son Hun-mo and senior civil servants visited the construction site of the new building, located next to the current city hall, for a final inspection of key facilities and move-in preparations.
The inspection was organized to identify in advance any inconveniences that residents and staff might encounter during actual operations and to address any shortcomings before the move-in.
The civil affairs office will be the first to begin operations in the new building, with other departments relocating in sequence. The full move-in is to be completed by mid-November.
Departments currently renting space in the South Jeolla CBS broadcasting building — including the elderly and disabled affairs division and the family welfare division — will move to the new building. Those housed in the Hanwha Life Insurance building, such as the sanitation resources, environmental management and forest resources divisions, will relocate Oct. 19 through Oct. 20. The move will prioritize departments currently operating out of leased external offices.
A total of 868 staff across 45 departments and 186 teams from 10 bureaus, along with 73 members of the council secretariat, will move in. The lifelong education division, currently at the culture and health center near Suncheon University, and the Gyodong water management center will remain at their current locations for operational efficiency.
The mayor's office, the deputy mayor's office and bureau director offices will complete their move to the sixth floor of the main building on Nov. 6, with the new city hall's opening ceremony scheduled for Nov. 23.
Floors two through six — the top floor — will be equipped with a new access security system requiring identity verification for entry into each department. The first-floor civil affairs office will be exempt from this requirement.
The new building in Jangcheon-dong was constructed at a cost of 216.5 billion won ($162 million), on a site of approximately 26,000 square meters, with a total floor area of about 47,000 square meters, comprising one below-ground floor and six above-ground floors.
To support businesses in the surrounding area, the city decided against leasing space to cafes or convenience stores, limiting on-site amenities to a cafeteria and a bank branch operated by Nonghyup.
Once the move is complete, demolition of the existing city hall building will begin in December. A second phase of construction will follow, encompassing the creation of a grass-covered central park, an underground parking lot and a structure connecting the new building to surrounding facilities, with all work to be completed by October next year.
The current Suncheon city hall was built in 1969 and expanded in 1979. A structural safety assessment gave it a C-to-D rating, prompting plans for a new building. The green-exterior design was selected through a design competition during the tenure of former Mayor Heo Seok in 2020, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on Dec. 22, 2023, under former Mayor No Gwan-gyu, bringing the building to completion in roughly three years.
"We will complete the move department by department to minimize any disruption to services and create a stable working environment, thereby strengthening administrative services for residents," an official from the city's new city hall construction division said.
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