By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

The government and the ruling Grand National Party have pushed state-funded prestigious universities to relocate their campuses to the planned site of Sejong City in South Chungcheong Province in a move to make it a self-sufficient city.

This unprecedented state-level pressure on school authorities came days after the administration hinted at dropping the initial plan, which has been pushed since 2005, to relocate some government units and other agencies to the city located 120 kilometers south of Seoul, citing economical and administrative inefficiency.

The move appears to have gained impetus as Seoul National University (SNU) ― the No. 1 school in South Korea and ranked 47th in the world university rankings for 2009 by Time magazine ― said Thursday that it is pushing ahead with a partial relocation of its Seoul campus to the site. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), the top tech-only university in Daejeon, said it is sticking to its initial plan of creating a second campus in the new city.

But not all students, parents and university admission experts agree with the plan.

``Even if my child passes admission tests for SNU, I will discourage her from signing up to study at the new campus,'' a father of a senior high school student in Seoul said.

He cited a lack of infrastructure as one of the key reasons for giving up the honor of being a student at Korea's top school.

``University is not the place only for study. It is the first stage for soft-hearted youngsters to become full-fledged adults by going through a wide range of experiences and activities in and outside campus,'' he said on the condition of anonymity. ``There is virtually nothing in the planned site. It will take quite a long time for it to have the same social and cultural infrastructure as Seoul and other advanced cities.''

Many analysts well versed in university admission echoed his opinion.

``We cannot rule out the possibility that many high-ranking students will choose universities in Seoul with quite the same or a bit less reputation as SNU rather than going to the undeveloped town,'' said Kim Eun-sun, an education analyst. ``In this country where social, cultural and educational infrastructure is all concentrated in Seoul, those considering moving their home turf outside Seoul should consider the risk of losing their reputation to a certain extent.''

For instance, primary and secondary schools supposed to open in Songdo ― part of the Incheon Free Economic Zone located 40 miles west of Seoul ― are reportedly grappling with a lower-than-expected number of student applications.

The SNU students' council could not be immediately reached for comment, but an SNU junior majoring in electronic engineering said many of his peers were concerned about the relocation plan.

``It's too early to know how many departments of our school are to be relocated. But it's true we take it very seriously,'' the student said. He refused to be identified due to the issue's political sensitivity.

The controversial Sejong City project was first designed by the late President Roh Moo-hyun to promote balanced regional development by relocating nine government ministries and four other agencies to a new town in Yeongi-Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, which is expected to be completed in 2012.

The project was approved at the National Assembly in 2005, but faced stormy setbacks after the Constitutional Court ruled it unconstitutional. The court said the city cannot take away Seoul's capital status of having major government buildings as the Constitution refers to Seoul as the capital of Korea. President Lee Myung-bak and the ruling party also have opposed the plan.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr