Signal Only 71.4 percent of relocated agency staff moved with their families as of June 2025

Summary

According to data from the Innovation City Development Promotion Team of the land and transport ministry, the family relocation rate of relocated agency staff averaged 71.4 percent in June 2025, a figure that includes unmarried single-person households. The report attributes the shortfall mainly to weaker education, health care and cultural services than in the capital region, which make whole-family moves hard to decide. Persistent gaps in everyday services such as education, medical care, culture and childcare are also cited as a likely reason why the share of newcomers from the capital region stayed low. Innovation cities able to draw on the infrastructure and human resources of nearby large cities, such as Busan and Gangwon, show higher family relocation rates and settlement satisfaction. The report concludes that moving jobs alone has limits in persuading capital-region residents to settle, and that initial site selection and development method strongly affect results.