Chung Un-chan, Prime Minister |
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
The administration and the governing Grand National Party (GNP) agreed Wednesday to make public a finalized development plan for Sejong City next month.
"We need to quicken the process of mapping out the plan to address social conflicts over the matter," Prime Minister Chung Un-chan said during a policy coordination meeting between Cheong Wa Dae, the government and the GNP.
Chung initially said the work would be completed in January to seek an alternative development scheme for Sejong ― an administrative town planned in South Chungcheong Province. Sources say the government is pushing for an industrial complex, housing science technology firms, universities and institutes.
GNP spokeswoman Rep. Cho Yoon-sun told reporters after the meeting that there was a wide consensus among ruling camp leaders that the master plan should be formed in December, not January.
"We must find a solution as quickly as possible," Cho said. "We are very concerned that society and political parties are sharply divided over Sejong City."
The administration is moving to revise the special law on Sejong City, enacted in 2005, to secure legal grounds for tax benefits and land development for firms seeking to move there.
"Under the current law, the government is unable to cut taxes and ease regulations for firms in Sejong City. We should rewrite it," said Kwon Tae-shin, chief of staff at the Office of the Prime Minister.
Despite the moves, former GNP Chairwoman Rep. Park Geun-hye and opposition parties stepped up their calls for the government to scrap the amendment plan.
Park, who leads the party's second-largest faction, said she recently met with Joo Ho-young, minister for special affairs, and delivered the message to him.
"I told him that there was no change in my position. There is nothing more to say," Park told reporters Wednesday, indicating that she would keep opposing the government's move to cancel the administrative town project.
Park was the chairwoman of the then-main opposition GNP when the National Assembly approved the Sejong project in 2005.
Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday that President Lee Myung-bak would speak to the nation as early as this month to explain why the project should be changed.
jj@koreatimes.co.kr
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