FSC's first move out of Seoul since its 2008 launch

Junior officials rattle as 'economic capital' pledge unravels

Exodus to law firms and financial companies expected to accelerate

The Financial Services Commission offices inside Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]
The Financial Services Commission offices inside Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]

The Financial Services Commission will relocate to Sejong under the government's second round of administrative agency transfers — the first time the regulator has moved outside Seoul since it launched as the Financial Supervisory Commission in 2008.

Most FSC staff had assumed the agency would stay in Seoul, taking the government's own "economic capital Seoul" slogan as a guarantee. The relocation announcement has sent shockwaves through the agency, with junior officials in particular expected to accelerate their departures.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety held a briefing Tuesday at Government Complex Seoul to announce the second round of central administrative agency relocations. Under the plan, 44 government bodies — including the FSC and six other commissions — will move in stages starting next year. The FSC is scheduled to complete its move by the second half of next year, with Government Complex Sejong the likely destination.

The FSC, which launched as the Financial Supervisory Commission in 2008, has operated entirely within Seoul — starting at the Seoul Regional Office of the Public Procurement Service in Seocho-gu, then moving through the current Financial Supervisory Service building in Yeouido and the Press Center before settling into its current home at Government Complex Seoul in 2016. The Sejong move would mark the agency's first time outside the capital since its founding.

Inside the FSC, the reaction since the announcement has been one of dismay. Rumors of a relocation for financial regulators and state-owned banks had circulated in August, but staff believed the risk had receded after Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said at an early September briefing on public institution relocations that the government would "pursue a new direction to strengthen economic, cultural and international exchange functions in Seoul and the broader metropolitan area." President Lee Jae Myung's own "economic capital Seoul" remarks had further cemented that belief among FSC employees.

"We thought Korea was heading in the same direction as the United States, concentrating economic agencies in one place like New York," one employee said. "So many of us believed that — this feels far too sudden."

"Quite a few employees renewed their jeonse loans or made family plans after assuming the relocation had been put on hold," another employee said. "It's not that we think the FSC deserves special treatment when every other ministry is moving — but it's hard not to feel deflated."

The move is also expected to trigger a wave of departures among working-level FSC staff. With the relocation set for the second half of next year, officials are expected to more actively pursue careers at law firms, law schools or financial companies. Former FSC officials have already found their way into positions across the financial industry.

"Staff with bar qualifications will knock on law firms' doors, and those without will go after financial companies," one employee said. "Not everyone who tries to leave will succeed, but the desire to go has definitely grown stronger than before."

Data submitted to People Power Party lawmaker Seo Il-jun of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee show that FSC departures fell from 28 in 2024 to 19 the following year, then reached 15 in the first half of this year alone through the end of June. On a half-year basis, that pace could make this year the highest departure count in the past five years.

Within the financial industry, there are also concerns that the growing physical distance between the FSC and the Seoul-based financial firms it oversees could hamper communication and slow responses to pressing issues.

Financial companies are already drawing up contingency plans — including setting up joint liaison offices in Sejong organized by sector. However, observers note that such offices tend to serve mainly a lobbying function, meaning working-level staff will likely still need to shuttle between Seoul and Sejong to handle day-to-day business.

The government has long worked to develop Seoul and Busan as financial hubs and to attract foreign financial firms. Moving the FSC — the central ministry overseeing financial policy — to Sejong, a city with comparatively weaker ties to the financial industry, is expected to draw criticism over policy consistency.

"On major issues like AI hacking, we need to be in constant contact with industry practitioners," one financial industry official said. "The greater physical distance could make it much harder to respond quickly."

With the FSC's relocation now confirmed, speculation has reignited over whether the Financial Supervisory Service and state-owned banks could be next. Unions at both the FSS and the state-owned banks are fiercely opposed to any relocation, and a difficult battle is expected ahead. An FSS union official said in a phone interview that the union would "monitor the government's follow-up moves after the FSC Sejong announcement and review its response options."


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