Ruling party seeks to move Cheong Wa Dae, Assembly to Sejong

Sejong Mayor Lee Choon-hee speaks during a meeting at the National Assembly, Tuesday. The mayor has called for support from Cheong Wa Dae and the Assembly to complete an administrative capital in Sejong. / Yonhap

By Do Je-hae

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is trying to revive a push to move Cheong Wa Dae and the National Assembly to Sejong to complete a stalled plan to build an alternative administrative capital for "balanced development" of the country.

The renewed proposal for the Sejong administrative capital was among the highlights of DPK floor leader Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon's speech at the National Assembly, Monday. The speech has renewed public attention to an old debate about the feasibility of moving the capital outside Seoul, after the Constitutional Court had ruled in 2004 that Seoul being the capital was an established fact according to the "customary Constitution."

Not only the DPK floor leader but other party heavyweights such as Rep. Lee Nak-yon, President Moon Jae-in's first prime minister and candidate for the DPK leadership, have declared their support for the completion of the administrative capital project by relocating the presidential office and the Assembly. Currently, Sejong houses some government ministries and affiliated agencies following a relocation plan under the Roh Moo-hyun administration.

The DPK says moving the administrative capital to Sejong is essential not only for "balanced national development," a cherished policy priority of Korea's liberal administrations, but also for decentralization as population, businesses, and jobs continue to be concentrated in Seoul and the surrounding areas, with the concentration allegedly contributing a large part to soaring housing prices.

As of last year, more than 50 percent of the nation's population resided in Seoul and the adjacent Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, surpassing the 50 percent mark for the first time in the nation's history. Against this backdrop, some experts say that the timing could not be better for the government to move ahead with a plan to complete the administrative capital in Sejong, 150 kilometers south of Seoul.

"If a new capital city is created, it will be definitely helpful in watering down the rampantly rising housing prices in Seoul area," Jeffrey I. Kim, a professor emeritus at Sungkyunkwan University, told The Korea Times. "Every new project has benefits and costs. The assessment of future benefits and costs is always different among the people because of differences in their attitude toward future risk and uncertainty. I believe that the net benefit would be positive. The project is likely to create a great number of jobs regardless of the direction of housing prices in Seoul."

Questionable timing

Although there is no doubt that decentralization is the right principle for Korea's future, questions are rising as to why Cheong Wa Dae and the DPK have jumped on the Sejong issue while limited time is left for the Moon administration. Although the completion of the administrative capital in Sejong was one of Moon's election pledges, the Moon administration has not shown much enthusiasm until now for the issue, which has lost steam since the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration (2003-2008).

The main opposition United Future Party (UFP) has criticized the move, saying that it has more to do with evading responsibility for the Moon administration's policy missteps in key areas related to the people's lives, particularly housing and jobs. It has underlined that the sudden focus on Sejong is just a way of diverting the people's attention from the government's flip-flopping on housing policy, considered one of the biggest reasons for the plummeting job approval rating of the President and his party in recent weeks.

A view of Sejong Government complex / Courtesy of National Agency for Administrative City Construction

The UFP claimed that moving the capital to Sejong would be out of the question, given that Moon has been unable to realize his key election pledge of moving his office to Gwanghwamun in order to facilitate communication with the people. "How can Cheong Wa Dae move to a place 150 kilometers away when it cannot even move 2 kilometers from where it is right now?" UFP spokesman Rep. Bae June-young asked in a briefing, Wednesday.

"We believe the administrative capital issue was brought up to distract public attention from the skyrocketing housing prices in the Seoul metropolitan area," UFP floor leader Rep. Joo Ho-young told reporters, Tuesday. "The administrative capital has already been ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court. The constitutional issue must be resolved before we can discuss administrative capital again."

Sejong Mayor Lee Choon-hee has said that despite the 2004 ruling, it is still possible to seek to create the administrative capital if the parties agree. "It is important to understand the meaning of the 2004 ruling," the mayor said in a media interview, Monday. "The Constitutional Court ruling was not against the relocation of the administrative capital itself, but meant to stress that it is right to seek it through a constitutional amendment."

Hurdles lying ahead

So far, 12 out of the 18 government ministries have moved to Sejong. In addition, state-run agencies such as the Korea Development Institute (KDI) have moved there. But the core organizations in charge of state management such as Cheong Wa Dae and the Assembly, and key ministries such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense, still remain in Seoul. So the current situation in Sejong is far from the administrative capital plan the Roh administration had in mind.

"If the government wants the proposal to be taken seriously by the people, it should announce a roadmap with the necessary procedures for the relocation to the administrative capital, including a constitutional revision," minor opposition Justice Party Chairwoman Rep. Sim Sang-jung said during a party meeting, Tuesday.

There are formidable hurdles that must be removed before the DPK can proceed with its ambitious plan. The main opposition UFP has stressed the need for a constitutional revision if the parties are to be able to start discussions. But the DPK says that it is feasible, without a constitutional amendment, through the enactment of a special law.

The DPK has begun procedures for a special law for building an administrative capital in Sejong. In this regard, the DPK floor leader suggested the establishment of a special committee at the Assembly.

"The population of the Seoul and surrounding area, which take up only 11.8 percent of the country's territory, has surpassed that of non-capital areas," Rep. Kim said during a party meeting, Tuesday. "This has resulted in grave tremendous social costs and side effects such as overcrowding in the area and soaring housing prices. Clearly, we need to launch a public debate on the completion of the administrative capital."

On the day when the DPK floor leader suggested the relocation, President Moon held a meeting with senior aides, where Ghim Sa-youl, chairman of the Presidential Committee for Balanced National Development, in a rare move, took part, raising speculation that the Sejong project may have been discussed among a range of measures for promoting regional growth. Moon also spoke at length about balanced national development during a Cabinet meeting, Tuesday.

"We are looking forward to discussion among parties and to paying attention to public opinion on the issue," a senior presidential aide told reporters, Monday.

A latest Realmeter survey showed that 53.9 percent of the people were positive about the Sejong administrative capital plan, while 34.3 percent were against it.