Sejong City Emerges as Campaign Issue
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The Sejong City project has become a campaign issue as parties are gearing themselves up for a drive to attract voters ahead of the crucial local elections slated for June 2.
Voters will pick approximately 4,000 representatives to serve residents in local government.
Rep. Lee Kang-rae, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), labeled the government's plan to abandon the relocation of nine ministries and four government agencies to the new city as a short-sighted ploy to gain more votes in swing cities.
The new city is being constructed on a site approximately 110 kilometers southwest of Seoul.
"The ruling camp, including the governing Grand National Party (GNP), believes that cancelling the relocation plan will make it easier for the GNP to gain more votes in Seoul and its adjacent cities in the upcoming election," said Lee.
Many voters living in Seoul and its suburban areas are opposed the relocation plan as they believe home prices will go down if relocation of the government ministries and agencies becomes a reality.
A recent Hankook Ilbo-Korea Times poll of 1,000 people found that more than 50 percent of respondents supported the alternative plan, saying the new city needs to house research institutes, think tanks and businesses.
DP Chairman Chung Sye-kyun vowed to team up with other opposition parties and even with a faction inside the GNP that opposes the alternative plan, in order to keep the initial plan alive.
Differing opinions over the Sejong City plan, which was approved in parliament in 2005, has divided the ruling party.
Former GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye and her supporters stood firm on the relocation plan, insisting they would not accept the alternative plan ruling out the relocation of nine ministries and four government agencies.
Last week Park reiterated her opposition.
Earlier, the GNP collaborated with the then-ruling party to pass the plan when Park was in the leadership post.
The former GNP chairwoman put trust and credibility first, saying that if lawmakers reverse their positions, it would damage their integrity.
She continues to support the original plan despite efforts from President Lee Myung-bak and Prime Minister Chung Un-chan to try to convince her to side with them on the alternative plan.