The new ministries of personnel management and national safety will be relocated to Sejong administrative city, some 150 kilometers south of Seoul, multiple sources from the ruling party and the government said Tuesday.

The decision was made during a trilateral meeting held on Monday with the government, the Saenuri Party and the presidential office as they agreed on the need to increase work efficiency of the ministries with other offices and to promote balanced regional development.

The ministries were launched late last year as part of President Park Geun-hye’s government reorganization plan. The plan was part of follow-up measures devised to address public criticism over the government’s response to the Sewol crisis.

The two ministries were excluded from the government’s relocation plan completed last year. Observers say the government could speed up the relocation process of the two ministries because the work requires no additional legislation.

The authorities, however, did not conclude on the matters of relocating other executive offices in and near Seoul, such as the ministries of future strategy, maritime affairs and public administration to Sejong City, which observers worry could invite fresh criticism from other officials already stationed in Sejong City.

The idea of creating Sejong City was first proposed by late President Roh Moo-hyun in 2002 as part of the efforts to relieve the overcrowding of Seoul by moving the country’s capital to the central provinces of Chungcheong. Former President Lee Myung-bak had opposed the plan and tried to scale down the original project in 2010.

It was considered one of President Park’s notable political feats at the time when she, as leader of the ruling party, opposed Lee’s revision, eventually maintaining most of Sejong’s role.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)