Cabinet OKs bills for new Sejong plan

The cabinet yesterday approved a set of five bills aimed at shifting the development program of Sejong City from an administrative center to an economic hub.

The next step to revise the development blueprint of Sejong City in South Chungcheong will be submitting the bills to the National Assembly. A senior government official said yesterday that the bills will be submitted as early as Saturday to give legislators enough time to deliberate and vote on them during the April session.

The cabinet meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Chung Un-chan, who emphasized the importance of revising the plan for an administrative hub.

“We must escape the obsession of today and look at Sejong City with tomorrow’s eyes,” Chung said. “We cannot cast a shadow over our children’s future by being tied down with the promise of the past.”

The five bills approved yesterday stated that the blueprint for Sejong City will be changed from an administrative city to an economic city with a focus on education and science. In return for scrapping the government offices’ relocation plans, a series of tax benefits were proposed to attract companies’ investments into the city.

Four conglomerates have announced tentative decisions to invest about 4.38 trillion won ($12.7 million) to build manufacturing and research facilities in the city under the revised programs.

By Ser Myo-ja [myoja@joongang.co.kr]