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Doubts remain about HMM's relocation
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By
Park Jae-hyuk
Published
May 10, 2026 2:36 pm
KST
Political strife deepens as shipping firm intends to retain Seoul office
Chun Jae-soo, left, the Busan mayoral candidate from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, poses with Jeon Jung-keun, the head of HMM’s seafarers' union, at the union office in Busan, Thursday, after appointing the union leader to lead the election campaign. Yonhap
Controversy continues to surround HMM’s relocation from Seoul to Busan, despite the nation’s largest container shipping company having secured union approval last month and shareholder approval Friday to revise the head office location in its articles of association.
During his announcement on April 30 that the union had agreed to the relocation plan, HMM CEO Choi Won-hyok said a Seoul branch would remain necessary for sales and finance functions.
His remarks have been widely interpreted as signaling that HMM plans to allow most of its 900 Seoul-based employees to remain in the capital rather than relocate to the southeastern port city, where the company currently operates an office with about 200 employees.
Before reaching an agreement, the union representing HMM employees in Seoul had said it would accept the relocation only if most members were allowed to stay.
Civic groups in Busan have urged the company to present detailed relocation plans.
“If it follows the precedent of public institutions that retained key functions in Seoul, the relocation will fail to deliver the expected benefits,” the Busan office of the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice said in a May 4 statement.
Rep. Cho Seung-hwan of the main opposition People Power Party, who served as oceans minister under former President Yoon Suk Yeol, criticized HMM’s relocation plan, citing a lack of clarity on how many employees would move to Busan and by when.
“There are concerns the relocation could be a rushed political move ahead of the June 3 local election,” Cho, who represents Busan’s Jung and Yeongdo districts, said on Friday.
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HMM to relocate to Busan after reaching agreement with union
Chun Jae-soo, the Busan mayoral candidate from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and former oceans minister for the Lee Jae Myung administration, rejected those concerns.
Emphasizing his role in relocating the oceans ministry from Sejong to Busan last December, he also appointed the head of HMM’s seafarers’ union in Busan to lead his campaign and secured support from another union representing the company’s land-based employees in Seoul.
Due to the unions’ involvement in the Busan mayoral election, HMM said it has distanced itself from the political situation.
However, the shipping firm remains under significant government influence, as its largest shareholders are the state-run Korea Development Bank and Korea Ocean Business Corp. overseen by the oceans ministry. The National Pension Service is its third-largest shareholder.
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