The Ministry of Justice will relocate to Sejong City in the first half of next year, ending its 44-year presence in the Gwacheon Government Complex since 1983.
According to a government announcement on September 3, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, along with other central ministries and public institutions in the metropolitan area, will move to Sejong City starting next year.
Yoon Ho-joong, the Minister of the Interior and Safety, stated during a briefing, "We will push for amendments to the Happy City Act to remove the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family from the list of agencies excluded from relocation."
He added, "We will proceed with these steps without delay, prioritizing the relocation of larger institutions like the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family starting in the first half of 2027. Institutions that require separate buildings, such as the prosecution and police agencies, will relocate after new facilities are constructed."
To avoid confusion, the government plans to implement the relocation gradually, considering the operational conditions and readiness of each agency rather than moving all at once.
Additionally, the government intends to finalize and announce the relocation plans for central administrative agencies after consultations and public hearings regarding the specific agencies, methods, and timing of the move.
The Gwacheon Government Complex was built in 1982 to alleviate space shortages at the Government Seoul Complex and to distribute the population in the metropolitan area. The Ministry of Justice moved into the Gwacheon Complex in 1984, alongside the Ministry of Construction and Transportation and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, marking the beginning of the Gwacheon era.
In the 2010s, various economic and social ministries gradually relocated to the Government Sejong Complex, but the Ministry of Justice remained in Gwacheon. This was due to the Happy City Act, enacted after the Constitutional Court's ruling in 2004 that deemed the Special Act on the Administrative Capital unconstitutional, which specified that the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family were excluded from relocation to Sejong City.
Discussions about the Ministry of Justice's move to Sejong City have been ongoing, particularly among local officials and lawmakers. Last September, when Sejong City officially requested the government to facilitate the relocation of agencies that had not yet moved, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport expressed its support for legislative discussions at the National Assembly, accelerating the talks regarding the Ministry of Justice's relocation.
Notably, the recent nomination of Kim Seung-won, who had actively proposed legislation to remove the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family from the list of agencies excluded from relocation, as a candidate for Minister of Justice has further propelled this government initiative.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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