KMA Heading to Daejeon, Considering Moving Seoul Metropolitan Office to Seoul

120-Year Seoul Era Coming to an End
Possibility of Metropolitan Police Agency Relocation to Suwon

KMA Building, Sindaebang-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] As the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) relocates to Daejeon, it is considering moving the Seoul office of the Capital Region Meteorological Administration to minimize forecast gaps in the Seoul area.

According to the KMA on the 23rd, the agency is coordinating the timing to move to the Daejeon office around August in cooperation with Daejeon City and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The plan to relocate the Capital Region office from Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, to Seoul is also under discussion. This is because, with the KMA headquarters leaving Seoul, the role of the Capital Region Meteorological Administration, which is responsible for forecasts in the metropolitan area, will become more significant.

A KMA official explained, "It is appropriate to forecast while experiencing the weather of the relevant area, and under the current circumstances, moving the Capital Region office to Seoul and utilizing the existing Capital Region office as a meteorological observation station is a realistic alternative."

The KMA has seven regional offices under its headquarters: Capital Region, Busan, Gwangju, Gangwon, Daejeon, Daegu, and Jeju. The regional offices manage forecasts for their respective areas, while the headquarters coordinates and oversees these forecasts.

The KMA has been located in Seoul for over 100 years. The predecessor of the KMA, the Gyeongseong Weather Station, started in Songwol-dong, Jongno-gu in 1904. The National Central Weather Bureau, the predecessor of the KMA, was established there in 1949 and moved to the office in Sindaebang-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul in 1998.

The relocation of the KMA headquarters is expected to begin sequentially around August, coinciding with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups moving to Sejong. Discussions are still ongoing regarding the extent of personnel and facilities to remain at the Sindaebang-dong office. Since critical observation services such as earthquake detection must be provided without interruption during the relocation process, the KMA plans to prioritize moving service departments first. It is anticipated that the Meteorological Service Promotion Bureau, which operates the weather call center and meteorological industry projects, will be relocated first.

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