South Korea plans Sejong presidential office by 2029

South Korea said on September 3 that it plans to build a second presidential office and legislative complex in Sejong as part of a wider effort to move state bodies out of Seoul.

Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said the government aims to complete the second presidential office in Sejong by August 2029 and a second National Assembly building by 2033. The plan also includes relocating the gender equality ministry and prosecution service.

Officials said relocation plans for 350 public institutions based in the Seoul metropolitan area will be finalised in 2026.

Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung said the foreign and unification ministries could also move after the presidential office and National Assembly complex are completed.

Sejong, about 120 kilometres south of Seoul, has been the focus of a long-running push to reduce the capital region's dominance. The prime minister's office moved there in 2012, and 44 central government bodies, including the finance and health ministries, have since relocated to the city.

The government says regional inequality remains a major problem. About half of South Korea's 51 million people live in the Seoul metropolitan area. As of 2024, 130 of the country's 228 cities, counties and districts were classified by the government as being at risk of disappearing because of population decline.

OECD data cited for the announcement said the Seoul capital region covers 12 percent of South Korea's land but accounts for 53 percent of national GDP and more than three-fifths of research and development investment.