The National Union of Financial Industry Workers, or the finance union, opposed the government's plan to relocate the Financial Services Commission to Sejong and urged an immediate withdrawal. It said the move could weaken cooperation among financial policymakers, supervisory bodies and financial companies, hurting the competitiveness of the national financial industry.

The finance union said in a statement on Oct. 14, "A policy that damages the nation's financial competitiveness built over decades based on administrative convenience cannot be justified." It called for the plan to relocate the FSC to Sejong to be withdrawn.

Earlier, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on Oct. 13 a plan to relocate the FSC to Sejong in the second half of 2027.

The finance union stressed that the nature of the financial industry requires close cooperation among policymakers, supervisory authorities, policy finance institutions and financial firms. It said the importance of swift policy decisions and on-the-ground responses was confirmed during the foreign exchange crisis and the 2008 global financial crisis, and argued that relocating the FSC could have a negative impact on the crisis response system.

It said the plan also runs counter to the government's policy to foster Seoul as a financial hub. The finance union said, "How can the government make Seoul a global financial hub and economic capital while separating financial policy institutions from the field?"

It also demanded a complete halt to discussions on relocating financial institutions outside the capital, including the Korea Development Bank, the Industrial Bank of Korea, the Export-Import Bank of Korea, NongHyup and Saemaul Geumgo, as well as the FSC.

The finance union said, "If the government pushes ahead with relocating the Financial Services Commission to Sejong and drives forward the relocation of financial institutions to regions, we will fight to the end with the strength of 100,000 financial workers."