President's office to get a branch in Sejong

Politics

Published: 30 May. 2022, 18:20 Updated: 30 May. 2022, 18:30

President's office to get a branch in Sejong

President Yoon Suk-yeol, center, poses for a commemorative photo with young officials at the Sejong government complex in Sejong Thursday. [YONHAP]

The National Assembly passed a bill to establish a branch of the presidential office in Sejong in keeping with President Yoon Suk-yeol's campaign pledge to promote balanced regional development.

On Sunday evening, the National Assembly approved a bill allowing for the establishment of a secondary presidential office in Sejong, with 187 votes for and just two abstentions.

The Sejong city government immediately welcomed the plan through an amendment to the Special Act on the Construction of the Administrative City in Yeongi-Gongju Area.

In a statement Monday, the city government said, "The establishment of a presidential office here will not only increase the efficiency of government administration centered on Sejong, but also help alleviate issues due to over-concentration in the metropolitan area."

The city said it will "prepare follow-up measures so that the presidential office in Sejong can be established as soon as possible in response to the wishes of our 380,000 citizens and for those who wish for balanced development and the completion of the administrative capital."

It will also encourage moves by administrative agencies and presidential committees that have not yet come to Sejong and establish a Sejong district court.

Currently, there are 47 central administrative agencies, 16 state-run think tanks and 24 government-affiliated institutions located in Sejong. Around 20 key government agencies still remain in Seoul.

Setting up a second presidential office and a parliamentary building in Sejong was a key campaign pledge by Yoon, to cement the city's role as the administrative capital. He has frequently said he plans to regularly hold Cabinet meetings in Sejong.

As he presided over his first Cabinet meeting in Sejong Thursday, Yoon called on his ministers to make efforts for balanced regional development and fair opportunities for people "regardless of which region they live in."

Last year, the National Assembly passed a bill enabling the establishment of a parliamentary branch building in Sejong. The Sejong branch of the National Assembly is expected to be completed in 2027.

The main candidate site for a National Assembly branch was on the north side of Sejong Lake Park, between Mount Jeonwol and Sejong National Arboretum, adjacent to the main government complex. The site is 616,000 square meters and the construction cost is expected to be around 1.426 trillion won ($1.15 billion).

In a Facebook post Sunday, Chung Jin-suk, a fifth-term lawmaker from Yoon's People Power Party and National Assembly deputy speaker, wrote that it will be "too late" if the presidential office and new National Assembly branch in Sejong are opened in 2027, when the president's five-year term expires. He called for a speeding up of the process.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]