Businesses Moving to "Countryside"

Since the International Monetary Fund(IMF) bailout stunned the Korean national economy last year, a lot of business groups are moving their headquarters outside of Seoul. This localization tendency was originally spearheaded by small and medium size companies, but it has even spread to major large-size groups.
The launch of local autonomous regions, in the mid-1990's, initially was unsuccessful in attracting business groups away from the capital. However with the recent economic recession, many businesses are voluntarily heading to other cities and regions to save on costs.
One example is Samsung Corning: the company will move their planning, general affairs, and personnel team members out of Seoul's Daechi-dong Glasstower headquarters to its Suwon office by the end of this month.
A source from the company said on October 18, 'Only financial and trading teams will remain in Seoul and the rest of our members will move nearer our production facilities as part of our 'Speed administration' efforts.'
However, many employees are unhappy with this decision since they feel that conditions for their children's education and the general lifestyle and culture outside of Seoul are of lower standards.