DAEGU — Daegu has launched a full-scale campaign to attract 34 state-run institutions ahead of the government's second round of public agency relocations. The city's calculations have grown more complicated as Korea Gas Corporation and the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Advanced Medical Industry Promotion Foundation were included in the government's public agency restructuring plan, forcing Daegu to court new institutions while defending the merged headquarters of ones it already hosts.
The city said on the 29th that it is pursuing 34 institutions across four functional groups: finance and support for small and medium-sized enterprises; artificial intelligence, data and industrial promotion; advanced medicine and healthcare; and climate, energy and the environment. Key targets include the Industrial Bank of Korea, the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, the Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute and the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute.
Competition from other regions is intense. Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City has expanded its list of target institutions to 45, while North Gyeongsang Province has designated roughly 40 institutions as strategic targets. Busan, South Gyeongsang Province and Jeonbuk State are also competing for the Industrial Bank of Korea, one of Daegu's priority targets.
Daegu is focusing its pitch on linking incoming institutions with its existing industrial base. The plan is to connect the capital and technology of target institutions with future industries such as AI, robotics and next-generation mobility, as well as with agencies already relocated to the city's innovation district, while expanding established industrial ecosystems in advanced medicine and energy. The city is also highlighting living conditions for agency employees and their families, including transportation, medical, cultural and shopping infrastructure, schools and relatively low housing costs.
Oh Jun-hyuk, head of Daegu's planning and coordination office, said the city would become "an industrial city best positioned to carry out national strategic projects" if its industries, talent and innovation hubs are combined with the capital and technology of the institutions it hopes to attract.
The government's stated policy of giving priority to integrated metropolitan cities in relocating public agencies is another variable. Daegu argues that because Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province were the first to pursue administrative integration, the city should be granted status equivalent to an integrated metropolitan city so it is not disadvantaged in the second round. The city is also urging the government and the ruling party to swiftly pass the Daegu-North Gyeongsang administrative integration bill, which is pending before the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
The public agency restructuring drive has added a further complication. Korea Gas Corporation and the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Advanced Medical Industry Promotion Foundation, both included in the government's restructuring plan, are expected to compete with Ulsan and Osong over the location of headquarters as they merge with Korea National Oil Corporation and the Osong Advanced Medical Industry Promotion Foundation, respectively.
Daegu contends that the merger of the gas and oil corporations should be approached as an organizational redesign aimed at stabilizing the national energy supply chain and strengthening resource security, rather than as a simple institutional combination or a contest between regions. On that basis, the city argues, the headquarters of the merged entity — tentatively named Korea Energy and Resources Corporation — should be located in Daegu, where the gas utility is based.
The city bases its case on organizational scale and earnings. As of last year's settlement, Korea Gas Corporation had 4,305 employees, assets of 53.6278 trillion won, revenue of 35.7273 trillion won and operating profit of 2.1011 trillion won. Compared with Korea National Oil Corporation, its workforce is three times larger, its assets 2.8 times larger, its revenue 11.4 times larger and its operating profit twice as large.
Daegu is also pushing to host the headquarters of the merged medical foundation. Over the past five years, the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Advanced Medical Industry Promotion Foundation has generated 43.2 billion won in technical service revenue, provided 13,021 technical services and completed 54 technology transfers. The city argues that these corporate support results, combined with its industrial base, specialized workforce and investment record, make Daegu the appropriate site for the merged foundation's headquarters.
Choo Kyung-ho, the mayor of Daegu, said the second round of public agency relocations is "a key to overcoming structural crises such as overcrowding in the capital region," adding that the city "will take responsibility and attend to the details so that this becomes an opportunity to raise the quality of life for relocating employees and their families."
