Daejeon Mayor Heo Tae-jeong Meets Representative Lee Nak-yeon, "Please Support Keeping the Ministry of SMEs"

Daejeon Mayor Heo Tae-jeong (left) meets with Representative Lee Nak-yeon (right) at the National Assembly on the 6th, requesting support for the withdrawal of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' relocation to Sejong and the retention of the ministry in Daejeon. Provided by Daejeon City

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Heo Tae-jung, mayor of Daejeon, met with Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, to request support for maintaining the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in Daejeon.

According to Daejeon City on the 7th, Mayor Heo met with Leader Lee Nak-yeon at the National Assembly the previous day and sought cooperation and support from the Democratic Party to keep the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in Daejeon.

At the meeting with Leader Lee Nak-yeon, Mayor Heo appealed, “Sejong City is being constructed to alleviate congestion in the Seoul metropolitan area and to promote national balanced development. Therefore, relocating public institutions located in non-metropolitan areas (Daejeon), such as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, to Sejong or other locations contradicts the original purpose.”

He also pointed out, “The relocation of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to Sejong violates the selection principle for relocating institutions stated in the ‘Plan for Relocation of Central Administrative Agencies’ for the establishment of Sejong City in 2005, which excludes agencies located in the Daejeon Government Complex or other non-metropolitan areas.” He added, “If relocation of public institutions between non-metropolitan regions is allowed, it would set a precedent that abandons principles and could cause regional conflicts such as competition to attract public institutions.”

Mayor Heo expressed the difficulties Daejeon has faced due to population, corporate, and business outflow (from Daejeon to Sejong) since the launch of Sejong City. He emphasized that if the Ministry of SMEs and Startups actually relocates to Sejong, affiliated agencies related to the ministry would follow, accelerating the economic downturn in the region.

He stated, “Daejeon will stand firmly with the local ruling and opposition political parties, autonomous districts, civic groups, and 1.5 million citizens of Daejeon to strongly oppose the relocation of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to Sejong until it is completely withdrawn.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups officially announced its intention to relocate by submitting a letter of intent to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 16th of last month.

Following the submission of the letter of intent, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will hold public hearings to gather opinions from the public and relevant experts. Then, after consulting with heads of related central administrative agencies, it will establish a relocation plan, obtain final presidential approval, and announce it in the official gazette.

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