Sejong's government district is growing busy following the conclusion of the June 3 nationwide local elections, as ministries face a backlog of policy tasks that had been temporarily shelved to avoid unnecessary controversy during the campaign period.
According to the energy industry on Tuesday, Climate, Energy and Environment Minister Kim Sung-hwan recently met with the union leaders of five power generation public corporations and said he would reach a conclusion on the consolidation of these companies within July. To that end, the government had planned to release interim results of a research study in May and gather opinions, but pushed back the schedule due to the burden of the local elections.
Once the consolidation issue is brought into public debate, the location of the headquarters is expected to become the biggest topic. The five power generation public corporations are headquartered in Jinju (South Gyeongsang Province), Busan, Ulsan, Taean (South Chungcheong Province), and Boryeong (South Chungcheong Province), respectively. A fierce "headquarters battle" among the power generation public corporations appears inevitable. Some observers expect Naju in South Jeolla Province, where energy public corporations are concentrated, and Sejong, where government complexes are located, to also join the competition to host the power generation companies.
The Climate, Energy and Environment Ministry must also resolve the issue of indoor conversion and expansion construction at the Dongseoul Substation with the newly elected mayor of Hanam, Gyeonggi Province. The Dongseoul Substation is the metropolitan-area endpoint of the East Coast-Capital Region high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission network the government is building. While the facility is essential for supplying surplus electricity from nuclear and thermal power plants on the East Coast to advanced industrial complexes in the metropolitan area, work has been completely halted for about two years because the Hanam mayor has refused to grant permits.
The selection of an alternative site to replace the Sudokwon Landfill is also expected to spark heated debate in local communities. Last October, the ministry, together with Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province, received two applications through the "Fourth Open Call for an Alternative Site to the Sudokwon Landfill." After the first through third rounds yielded no applicants, authorities eased area requirements and allowed individuals and corporations, in addition to local governments, to apply, finally finding candidate sites.
However, more than eight months after the outline of the results became known, the government has yet to disclose any specific information about the candidate sites and has continued behind-the-scenes eligibility reviews. The move is interpreted as reflecting concerns that, since landfills are a representative type of avoided facility, disclosing the candidate sites could prompt opposition from both ruling and opposition parties, potentially derailing the site selection. Now that the elections are over, what remains is to disclose the review results and continue the arduous negotiations with local governments.
"The greater the impact on local communities, the more likely an issue is to be consumed as a tool of political conflict during election periods," a government official said. "There is also the possibility of being drawn into unnecessary controversies over election interference, so ministries have no choice but to be cautious in implementing policies."
In fact, ministries have been intentionally scheduling announcements of contentious matters for after election day. For example, the Ministry of Strategy and Budget postponed the National Fiscal Strategy Meeting, usually held around May each year, to June. The fiscal strategy meeting, presided over by the president, is where principles for budget execution and total fiscal amounts by sector are set for the next five years. Since it allows a glimpse into the direction of next year's budget execution, holding it just before an election would carry a significant political burden.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy initially said it would release a notice in late May containing measures to compensate refiners for losses arising from the implementation of a maximum price system for petroleum products, but has yet to make it public. "The contents are nearly complete, but inter-ministerial consultations remain in some areas," a ministry official said. "We will announce it as soon as it is finalized." The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also planned to announce a reform plan for the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) around March this year but has pushed the announcement to within the first half. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is also set to release a second Nonghyup reform plan in June, containing measures to restructure businesses and resolve deficits at Nonghyup Economic Holdings.
Local development strategies, which can easily be labeled as "election-driven policies," are also expected to gain momentum now that the elections are over. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will unveil a detailed roadmap for the Lee Jae-myung administration's regional balanced growth strategy "5 Poles, 3 Special Zones" around July. Along with this, the ministry plans to announce support measures containing specific corporate investment plans for each region, similar to Hyundai Motor's decision to invest 9 trillion won in the Saemangeum area of North Jeolla Province, focusing on sectors such as robotics, hydrogen, and artificial intelligence (AI) cities.
The "second round of public agency relocation," a key concern for local governments, will also begin to take concrete shape. Based on a "Second Public Agency Relocation Implementation Support Study" commissioned last year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will release a plan around July or August and gather opinions through public hearings. With 200 to 300 public agencies, government-invested entities, and public-affiliated organizations remaining in the metropolitan area being mentioned as candidates for relocation, local governments are expected to compete fiercely throughout the second half of the year to host them.
