'Public Institutions Relocation to Gangbuk'... Starting with the Talent Development Institute

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] Seoul City is set to kick off the 'Public Institution Relocation to Gangbuk' initiative announced last August.

According to the maintenance industry on the 9th, the Human Resources Development Institute recently began a site and building status survey and analysis of the 28,804㎡ area of Gangbuk Suyu English Village in Suyu-dong 522, Gangbuk-gu, the planned relocation site. For the relocation of the office building, a thorough investigation of policy, economic, and technical feasibility must be conducted. Based on this, a basic plan must be established regarding whether to build new or remodel, the scale of the site and facilities, the layout of the office, and its functions. Currently, the building area of Gangbuk Suyu English Village is 12,431㎡, with one basement floor and three above-ground floors.

The current Human Resources Development Institute office building in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, has been in use for over 40 years, resulting in continuous maintenance costs. Due to the building's age and limited space, it fails to meet the educational service demands of trainees. Therefore, the relocation to Gangbuk Suyu English Village, with new construction or remodeling, is necessary to provide better educational convenience, as stated in the relocation rationale.

The Human Resources Development Institute explained, "Functions such as recruitment and competency evaluation are continuously expanding, but the current facility lacks separate screening facilities for interviews and recruitment, necessitating expansion of related facilities." They added, "To meet the educational demand in the Gangbuk area and to promote balanced development between Gangnam and Gangbuk, it is necessary to review the suitability of the location following the relocation to Gangbuk Suyu English Village." The Institute plans to complete the basic relocation plan and feasibility study by the second half of this year.

Through the study, the Institute intends to forecast educational demand, review site suitability, and comprehensively analyze project duration, budget, facility scale and usage, funding plans, and basic concepts. In accordance with the Construction Technology Promotion Act, they will review appropriateness from economic, technical, social, and environmental perspectives before establishing the plan. They also plan to consider tailored functions of educational facilities and lifelong education service support functions for local residents.

Last August, the city decided and announced the relocation of the Human Resources Development Institute, Seoul Institute, and Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH Corporation) to Gangbuk. This was part of the public institution relocation to Gangbuk for balanced development between Gangnam and Gangbuk, which Mayor Park Won-soon mentioned when ending his rooftop room life in Samyang-dong, Gangbuk-gu, in August 2018. The planned relocation sites are Suyu Camp of Gangbuk English Village in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul Innovation Park in Eunpyeong-gu, and Sinnae 2 District in Jungnang-gu, respectively.

For the Human Resources Development Institute, the plan is to conduct a feasibility study this year, undergo central investment review and public property deliberation next year, complete basic and detailed design by 2022, and finish construction between 2023 and 2024. The city is also conducting a study on the utilization of the existing Human Resources Development Institute site after relocation.

Meanwhile, when the public institution relocation plan to Gangbuk was announced last year, the Seoul City Government Employees Union and SH Corporation Union requested a reconsideration reflecting internal opinions, but it is known that no coordination of opinions has been made regarding this. A Seoul city official stated, "Detailed progress related to the relocation is to be carried out by each institution," adding, "We will soon discuss and review the progress following the announcement."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.