[Deputy Director's Column] Moving the Administrative Capital to Control Real Estate?

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The issue of 'relocating the administrative capital' has resurfaced after 16 years, centered around the ruling party. Despite announcing 22 real estate measures over three years, the soaring real estate prices remain unchecked, prompting the ruling party's floor leader to bring up this long-standing issue under the banner of 'alleviating real estate problems.' Although it was ruled unconstitutional in 2004, this time they seem determined to push it through, claiming that 'times have changed.'

The plan to relocate the administrative capital was a product of the Roh Moo-hyun administration. The late President Roh Moo-hyun pledged during his presidential campaign to "relocate the Blue House and government ministries to the Chungcheong region to curb concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area and address the underdeveloped regional economy." After taking office, he pursued the relocation of the administrative capital, but the Constitutional Court halted it by citing 'customary law,' causing the plan to fail. Since then, many government agencies such as the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Fair Trade Commission have moved to Sejong City, but the most important institutions?the Blue House and the National Assembly?remain in Seoul.

As a result, many public officials still endure the inconvenience of commuting between Seoul and Sejong, having to conduct meetings and communicate via KakaoTalk. Those who must visit Sejong inevitably face the inconvenience of transferring from KTX Osong Station to the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The lack of entertainment and cultural activities for young people turns the city into a 'ghost town' every weekend. Sejong City, launched to become the administrative capital, remains only half-realized.

Perhaps the completion of unfinished reforms to fill that half was urgently needed. The Moon Jae-in administration has repeatedly stated that it inherits the 'Roh Moo-hyun spirit.' However, bringing up the administrative capital relocation card now, amid falling approval ratings due to failed real estate policies, risks being misinterpreted as an attempt to evade responsibility for real estate issues. Above all, relocating the administrative capital as a solution to real estate problems reverses the priority of the issue. The focus should be on improving inefficiencies and normalizing functions of the administrative capital, not making real estate measures the main agenda.

No matter how much the government says, 'Go live in the provinces,' people flock to places that are good for leisure, earning money, and educating their children. That place is Seoul. The locational advantages do not disappear simply because the administrative capital changes. When the reporter was dispatched to Sejong City in 2018, commercial areas were often empty on weekends due to young public officials returning to Seoul. Even unmarried reporters chose to go to Seoul on weekends, saying, 'I think I would get depressed if I stayed in Sejong.'

Around that time, a Ministry of Strategy and Finance official met in Sejong confessed over drinks that he planned to move his home to Seoul once his child reached high school. When asked why, he said, "I want to send my child to a high school with a good school district to help them build good senior-junior relationships." People flock to Seoul not because the Blue House or the National Assembly are there. If relocating the Blue House and National Assembly alone could control housing prices, why not establish branches of the Blue House and National Assembly in major cities nationwide and rotate their use annually? Wouldn't that stabilize housing prices across the country?

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.