The Sejong City project has long political background
Published: 28 Sep. 2009, 00:56
The debate over the project grew even hotter during Chung’s two-day confirmation hearings last week as he remained firm in his dim view of the new city.
What exactly is the Sejong City plan that sparked this political controversy and public division?
The project was first proposed by Democratic Party then-presidential candidate Roh Moo-hyun in September 2002 as one of his campaign pledges to win public support, especially from the Chungcheong area.
The heart of the relocation plan is to alleviate the overcrowding of Seoul and its surrounding areas as well as to promote regionally balanced development. Experts at that time said that the plan could stabilize housing prices and relieve traffic congestion in the capital. Lee Hoi-chang, then presidential candidate of the Grand National Party, opposed the plan, saying it was unrealistic because of the huge amount of cost involved.
After the election, the Roh Moo-hyun administration promoted the new administrative hub project. The administration created a construction planning task force for the new city and prepared a special law make it a reality.
However, the Grand National Party, the majority party at that time, was so against the plan that a bid to build a special committee for the new city’s construction, which had been earlier agreed to between leaders from both ruling and opposition parties, failed to win a crucial vote. The discord angered many Chungcheong residents.
After continuous discussions and arm twisting by GNP leadership, a special law eventually was passed in December 2003 during a full session of the National Assembly. The detailed project plan was finalized and the site for the new capital was chosen.
But the Constitutional Court effectively halted the move by ruling in October 2004 that the Roh administration’s decision to relocate the nation’s capital was unconstitutional because the project required a revision of the constitution. The Constitutional Court said Seoul was the nation’s constitutional capital, even if it was unwritten.
It was a major setback for Roh’s government and the governing Uri Party in their bid to carry out their multi-trillion-won campaign pledge to transfer ministries and other government agencies from Seoul.
The former government and the Uri Party then tried Plan B. Both ruling and opposition parties agreed to build a so-called Multifunctional Administrative City by transferring 18 ministries and other government agencies. The National Assembly passed a law to construct the city in March 2005.
In November 2006, the consolidated area got the name Sejong in honor of the “King Sejong the Great” of the Joseon Dynasty in the 15th century, who created the Korean alphabet called Hangul and is credited with several scientific advances.
At the end of the Roh administration in July 2007, a groundbreaking ceremony took place and construction of the new city got under way. As the new presidential election approached at the time, presidential candidates vowed to make the new Sejong a “happy city.”
Besides a long preliminary process of starting construction, many worried about a wide gap between the intent of the project and its reality. First of all, most construction companies among the 12 firms that were contracted to build apartments at the new site were reluctant to make needed payments due to the uncertainty of the plan.
The Korea Land Corporation informed one construction firm of the cancellation of a contract early this year because of a payment dispute. Soon, the same thing happened to another company. One firm has been warned to make payments by end of this year.
A second concern is that the Sejong City be self-sufficient and contain the originally planned 500,000-plus residents. The expected area of the new city is 297 square kilometers (3.1 billion square feet), which is about half the size of Seoul. The area is mainly divided into two parts, one with government buildings and the other without.
A total of 22.5 trillion won ($18.9 billion) will be needed to complete construction by 2030. About a quarter of the cost has been already spent. Unlike private businesses, constructing public structures, including government offices and roads, is underway as planned.
The problem is that the total number of public officials who will be transferred is likely to reach around 10,000. The population could bump up to between 50,000 and 60,000 when family members and workers at schools, shops and hospitals are added in. That means the city might be a tenth its planned original size.
Worse, many family members of those public officials are reluctant to move to the new site. That means that the city could develop a reputation as a ghost town, critics argue.
“When government agencies are relocated, educational institutes and companies follow along,” said Park Sang-don, Forward Liberty Party lawmaker representing one of two legislative seats in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, on Sept. 20. “But private firms hesitate to move to a new location since public officials are showing less enthusiasm about the transfer,”
Many public officials worried that cost of administrative work could be increased and administrative efficiency will fall due to the distance between Seoul and Sejong.
“Government offices for running the country will be divided into two as the president and the National Assembly remains in Seoul while the prime minister and other ministers move to the new administrative hub. If this is the case, it could cause catastrophe on the Korean Peninsula where security matters still are key,” said GNP Representative Cha Myeong-jin on Sept. 20. “It is more serious than the fact that the new city may turn into either a ghost town that has little self-sufficiency or cause administrative inefficiency.”
In response to Cha’s concern, Park said, “It only takes about an hour and 20 minutes traveling from Seoul to the new city by the high-speed KTX train. Nowadays, video conferencing is possible. Security concerns can be handled by the joint headquarters of Korea’s Army, Navy and Air Force at Gyeryongdae, South Chungcheong.”
The Sejong City plan did not became a hot issue during the Lee Myung-bak administration until Chung’s appointment.
The official Blue House position is that no revision will be entertained. Recently, Public Administration and Security Minister Lee Dal-gon said that the government is not considering any changes to the project but it is planning to set up additional measures to make the city self-sufficient.
Some senior presidential aides and senior government officials said a possible alternative would be creating a science hub city by relocating only education and IT-related government ministries and offices. Currently, however, a special law regarding a science hub city is deadlocked in the National Assembly.
The possibility of moving some engineering and science related departments of Seoul National University to the new area is also being considered. But the university opposes the plan because integrated academic research might not be possible if departments are separated.
“I’m concerned that the new administrative complex project might be scrapped since the prime minister-designate took a negative view of the plan,” said Lim Heon-wu, 78, a resident of Yeongi.
Among more than 10,000 residents who had lived in the new construction site, some 7,600 have left after receiving compensation from the government. Most of them moved to either the nearby towns of Jochiwon or Daejeon, allowing them to return to the area once construction is completed.
“I don’t know if I can go back to my hometown due to the constant controversy over the new city project,” said Lee Wan-su, 66, who moved to Jochiwon.
The remaining 2,400 residents also are concerned that compensation funds could be exhausted while the project remains incomplete.
“The project is authorized by law. If the current administration tries to revise the plan through a new prime minister, who can ever believe in further national projects?” said Lee Wank-koo, governor of South Chungcheong.
By Kim Sun-ha, Lee Min-yong [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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