Relocation of oceans ministry opens Northern Sea Route era

On Dec. 8, Korea began undertaking a significant administrative and strategic realignment: the relocation of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) from the administrative capital of Sejong City to the southeastern port city of Busan. This movement, involving the physical transfer of hundreds of personnel and tons of equipment over 284 kilometers, is the operational vanguard of the Lee Jae Myung administration’s "maritime capital" initiative. The policy maneuver is designed to fundamentally restructure the nation’s economic geography, pivoting from a Seoul-centric model to a bipolar growth strategy anchored by Busan’s emergence as a global hub for the Northern Sea Route (NSR). The timing could not be more fortuitous. Just months ago, the government established a dedicated Arctic shipping task force, announced pilot operations scheduled for summer 2026 and secured commitments from major shipping companies to relocate to Busan. These initiatives would be hollow gestures without the MOF’s institutional weight and geographic presence. Instead, they represent the architecture ofWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times