(National Comprehensive = Yonhap News) As the government's clock speeding up the consolidation and abolition of public institutions and relocation to local areas, the response of local governments hoping to attract institutions is also developing rapidly.
When the government announced the 'administrative and public institution relocation plan and public institution function reform plan' on the 3rd, local governments trying to take the lead are competing, each appealing that "we are the best place."
Starting in the first half of next year, the government will begin full-scale relocation of administrative agencies and public institutions, and will also begin reforms to reduce 109 public institutions, the largest ever.
◇ ‘Daegu vs. Ulsan’ competition to attract Korea Gas Corporation and Oil Corporation integration
When the government decided to merge Korea Gas Corporation and Korea National Oil Corporation to establish a tentative name, Korea Energy Resources Corporation, voices emerged from Daegu and Ulsan, where the two organizations are currently located, emphasizing the necessity of hosting an integrated headquarters.
On the 4th, Ulsan City announced its intention to host the company, saying, “Ulsan is the optimal location for the integrated headquarters of Korea Oil Corporation and Korea Gas Corporation.”
Shin Min-sik, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs, held a press conference and said, "The government's reform plan is to unify the national energy supply chain by integrating the exploration, development, and storage functions of oil and natural gas, and to increase negotiation power with foreign oil producing countries and global companies," and emphasized, "The place where the reform plan's purpose and strategy can be best realized is Ulsan, the capital of Korea's energy industry."
Through the first relocation of public institutions, public energy companies such as Korea National Oil Corporation, Korea Energy Agency, Korea Energy Economics Institute, and Korea East-West Power are currently gathered in Ulsan. The city has set a goal of building a 'complete national energy supply chain (value chain)' that connects the entire energy policy process by attracting the integrated headquarters of Korea Oil Corporation and Korea Gas Corporation here.
Although Daegu City has not made an official statement, it is firmly of the opinion that since the scale of the Korea Gas Corporation is much larger than that of the Korea Oil Corporation, it should be integrated around the Korea Gas Corporation for the sake of integration efficiency and employee convenience.
Since the number of employees of the Korea Gas Corporation in Shinseo Innovation City, Daegu (about 4,000) is much larger than that of the Korea National Oil Corporation (about 1,000), if integration is promoted, considering employee convenience, etc., it should be promoted with the Korea Gas Corporation in Daegu as the center, and the headquarters of the integrated organization should be located in Daegu.
◇ “Active cooperation with government policies”… Local governments compete to score points
Some local governments immediately announced that they would welcome the government's policies and cooperate with them, and started to score points early.
On the 3rd, North Chungcheong Province issued a statement immediately after the government's announcement, saying, "We respect the principles and direction of the second relocation of public institutions to regional areas announced by the government, and welcome their will for balanced national development and realization of the regional era."
He then appealed to the government, saying, "Chungbuk Province will actively cooperate with this principle and further strengthen settlement conditions together with cities and counties, relocating public institutions, and local universities and companies to ensure that newly relocated public institutions can settle stably in the region and grow together with local industries."
Naju City, Jeollanam-do Gwangju Unified Special City, also said on the 4th that it “actively welcomes the government policy along with the 120,000 citizens of Naju.”
Mayor Byeong-tae Yoon issued a statement saying, "We will begin full-fledged attraction activities to relocate public institutions that are functionally linked to Bitgaram Innovation City," and added, "Bitgaram Innovation City is a prepared innovation city with an industrial ecosystem built around 16 public institutions and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology and workspaces that can be used immediately."
At the 'Public Institution Attraction Committee' held on the 4th, Gangneung City, Gangwon-do decided to form a 'Gangneung City Public Institution Attraction Pan-Citizen Promotion Team' to consolidate citizen-wide attraction capabilities.
The pan-citizen promotion team will be jointly led by the mayor and a private leader, and will be divided into 'external cooperation', which is in charge of on-site promotion, and 'planning strategy', which is in charge of strategy development, with the participation of civil society groups and experts centered around the bid committee.
In addition, in preparation for the government's second relocation of public institutions to regional areas, Jeju Island has selected five organizations, including the Korea Racing Authority, Korea Airports Corporation, Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning, Korea Marine Environment Corporation, and Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, as key attraction targets and is engaging in a bid to attract them.
Among these, Jeju is making special efforts to attract the headquarters of the Korea Racing Authority, citing its strengths as the country's first horse industry special zone and the concentration of related industries ranging from horse breeding to production, training, training, horse racing, and tourism.
In addition, the city of Busan said, "We welcome the government's principles such as minimizing public institutions remaining in Seoul and concentrating them," and emphasized the advantages of Busan, saying, "Busan is the optimal location for relocating public institutions with excellent residential conditions, an industry-academia-research cooperation system, and sufficient vacant space that can be immediately used as temporary government buildings."
◇ Gyeongnam is in turmoil over the ‘splitting of LH’… “There should be no leakage of skills or manpower.”
Some local governments are anxious not to attract institutions, but to fear that the institutions they currently have will be split up.
Gyeongnam Province reacted sensitively when the government announced its plan to reorganize Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) into two companies for each function in order to speed up housing supply.
LH is the largest among the 11 public institutions in Gyeongnam Innovation City in Jinju, and can serve as a central axis to attract public institutions in related fields during the second public institution relocation.
Accordingly, Gyeongnam Province emphasized that even if LH is divided into two, it is natural for both to be headquartered in Gyeongnam Innovation City.
Kim Soon-hee, head of the Gyeongnam Provincial Public Institution Relocation Promotion Team, said, “Even if LH becomes two companies, we do not expect them to go anywhere else because they all belong to the land and construction functional group.”
Gyeongnam Provincial Council and Jinju City Council also decided to jointly respond to the LH reorganization issue.
Gyeongnam Provincial Council Chairman Park Jun and Jinju City Council Chairman Park Mi-kyung met on the 4th and agreed that 'LH's core functions and manpower should not be leaked to other regions' and decided to join forces to resolve the pending issue.
