Lee calls for speeding up relocation of public firms, agencies

SEOUL, May 30 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak instructed his aides on Monday to speed up the envisioned relocation of public corporations and agencies to provincial regions for the sake of the country's balanced development, an official said.
The relocation project calls for moving the headquarters of more than 100 public firms and agencies to 10 cities across South Korea by the end of 2012. The move is aimed at improving balanced development of the country, along with a separate project to relocate some government ministries to a new administrative city in central South Korea.
On Monday, Lee instructed at a regular meeting with senior secretaries that the government should speed up the relocation of public firms and agencies so as to help boost regional development, presidential spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung said.
A presidential official said in a newsletter Sunday that the government aims to break ground for the construction of new headquarters for about 80 public firms and agencies before the end of the year to accelerate the relocation project.