By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
The administration announced a master plan Monday to build an international science-business belt on the site of Sejong City ― which was originally planned to be an administrative complex ― in close partnership with the country's leading conglomerates and universities.
The government and private sector will invest a total of 18 trillion won by 2020, which will result in the creation of 250,000 jobs.
The administration officially scrapped an initial plan to move nine ministries and four government agencies out of Seoul.
Samsung Group will invest 2.05 trillion won to build facilities for its solar energy, fuel cell battery, LED television and bio-health care businesses on a 1.65 million-square-meter site. The investment is part of the group's efforts to create new sources of earnings amid the economic paradigm shift toward a green economy, Samsung representatives said.
Major corporate investors also include Hanwha (1.33 trillion won), Lotte (100 billion won), Woongjin (900 billion won) and Austria's solar energy developer SSF (138 billion won).
KAIST and Korea University will invest 601 billion won and 770 billion won, respectively, to set up graduate schools and institutes in the area, located 150 kilometers south of Seoul.
"In a decade, Sejong will become the Mecca of science technology firms, with a population of 500,000," Prime Minister Chung Un-chan said in a statement, broadcast live on major television networks.
"This plan is a task of correcting past errors and paving the ground for a new future. It was a politically-motivated plan, but it is courageous for a leader to correct it, albeit belatedly."
The blueprint came about two months after the government vowed to revise the previous administration's project to build an administrative town and seek an alternative development plan for the sake of the country's future.
In an address to the nation in November, President Lee Myung-bak said that it was a "shameful" act for him to back the administrative town project during the 2007 presidential campaign.
The revision drew a wave of protest not only from opposition parties but also some ruling Grand National Party (GNP) lawmakers affiliated with former Chairwoman Rep. Park Geun-hye.
"We will take all possible measures to fight the government's decision to nullify the administrative town project, which was already endorsed by the National Assembly in 2005," said Chung Sye-kyun, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party.
The administration plans to submit a bill on the revision as early as this month for parliamentary approval, but an early passage appears to be unlikely as rival factions of the governing party are divided over the revision.
Rep. Park, leader of the GNP's second-largest faction and arguably President Lee's greatest political rival, has strongly protested the change.
There is speculation that President Lee will offer to meet Park soon to discuss ways to unite the governing party.