"With talk of relocating to the provinces, I've started looking for a new job."
As the government's second round of relocating public institutions to the provinces takes shape, the financial sector is in turmoil. The Nonghyup union recently held a large-scale rally with more than 4,000 members participating. State-run bank unions have also signaled a joint response. Although the relocation targets and criteria have not yet been disclosed, concerns about staff departures are already growing in the field.
Balanced regional development is an essential task. There is a shared understanding of the goal to ease concentration in the greater Seoul area and to lay a new foundation for growth in the regions. But policy is not completed by justification alone. The costs invested and the effects must be weighed coldly.
The Nonghyup case shows this clearly. Management estimates that building a new headquarters alone will require at least 200 billion won. However, some analyses suggest that of the roughly 1,200 people at the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation's central headquarters, the actual number to be relocated will be limited to around 500. This is because core functions such as asset management, IT, and government relations are likely to remain in Seoul.
In the end, even after investing hundreds of billions of won, only part of the organization, rather than the entire body, will move. That raises the question of whether the effect of revitalizing the regional economy can be achieved to a degree that justifies the enormous cost.
The bigger problem is who bears that burden. Nonghyup is not an institution operated with government budget, but a cooperative funded by 2 million farmer members. The hundreds of billions of won spent on relocating the headquarters could ultimately reduce the resources that would otherwise go to members through farming support and disaster recovery.
Other public institutions are in a similar situation. The costs of constructing new headquarters, reorganizing the workforce, and the social costs from work disruptions during the relocation process will inevitably return as a burden on the public.
What is more concerning than the cost is the loss of organizational capacity. If capable employees who joined expecting to work in the greater Seoul area begin to leave the organization, the experience and expertise the institution has accumulated will inevitably be shaken. If skilled personnel leave, work efficiency and service quality may also decline.
Can an organization that has lost its people become a hub of regional development? If institutions are moved at enormous cost but core personnel leave, and farmers and the public are left to bear the relocation costs and the burden of work disruptions, one cannot help but ask again: for whom is this relocation intended?
