Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Citizen Guard
Continues to Urge Halt of Relocation Plans
Director Park Yunkyung of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Citizen Guardian Team voluntarily held a press conference on the 8th and read the statement. / Photo by Citizen Guardian Team
The "Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Citizen Guard," a group known for opposing the relocation of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, held a press conference on the 8th and once again emphasized the legitimacy of blocking the relocation of public institutions. The group appears determined not to back down against the government’s decision.
On this day, the Citizen Guard stated, "Sejong City was built as the administrative capital of the Republic of Korea to resolve overpopulation in the Seoul metropolitan area and to achieve balanced national development." They added, "The creation of a national symbolic district, which will house the Presidential Office in Sejong and the National Assembly Sejong Hall, is a significant step toward completing the administrative capital. However, the government’s policy to relocate the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and its affiliated agencies to other regions is a contradictory policy that goes against this national objective."
They argued that the status of the administrative capital comes from the synergy created when central administrative agencies are gathered together, and that dispersing the headquarters of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and its affiliated agencies would undermine policy efficiency and run counter to the original purpose of constructing Sejong City.
In particular, they cited the case where the relocation of the Incheon Polar Research Institute was blocked through bipartisan cooperation in the political sphere, emphasizing that only by uniting the local political community can Sejong City be protected.
They pointed out that Sejong City Mayor Choi Minho, during a recent meeting with Prime Minister Kim Minseok, stated, "The relocation of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries violates the principles and logic of the public institution relocation policy, and according to the government’s own logic, all central ministries and related agencies should instead be concentrated in Sejong." They further criticized that "such remarks highlight that the government’s plan to move the Ministry’s affiliated agencies to Busan undermines policy consistency and erodes public trust."
They went on to urge, "The government should immediately halt the plan to relocate the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and its affiliated agencies. The local political community should cooperate beyond party lines to take the lead in completing Sejong City as the administrative capital, and the outdated practice of using the relocation of central ministries as a tool for political bargaining must end."
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