"Ruling Party Holds Seminar Opposing Capital Relocation, Claims Administrative Capital Move Means De Facto Capital Transfer"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Amid the ruling party's push for the 'relocation of the administrative capital,' concerns have been raised that moving the National Assembly and the Blue House is not merely an administrative capital relocation but effectively a 'capital relocation.' It is argued that relocating the capital will neither curb real estate speculation nor achieve balanced regional development.

On the 12th, Lee Jae-oh, Standing Representative of the National Opposition Headquarters Against Capital Relocation, stated at the '1st Seminar Opposing Capital Relocation' held at the National Assembly, "After remaining silent for three years, pushing for capital relocation at the end of the term is an attempt to create a turning point due to declining approval ratings caused by failed real estate policies."

The seminar was hosted by the National Opposition Headquarters Against Capital Relocation and organized by the office of Bae Hyun-jin, a member of the Future United Party. Kim Jong-in, the Future United Party's Emergency Committee Chairman, was scheduled to attend for a congratulatory speech but did not participate.

Lee said, "In 2004, the Roh Moo-hyun administration suddenly announced 'capital relocation' as a blatant attempt to gain votes from the Chungcheong region, lacking philosophy or historical basis, and was purely for election purposes," adding, "Saying you will move the capital is, more precisely, like saying you will move the Republic of Korea itself, and this must be stopped by the power of the people."

He mentioned that the Constitutional Court has defined the concept of the capital as ▲the place where national institutions are concentrated ▲the center of political and administrative functions ▲the place symbolizing the nation externally ▲the location of the National Assembly where the people decide political will as representatives ▲and the location of the President who represents the nation through administration. In short, "the place where the National Assembly and the Blue House are located" is the capital.

Lee criticized, "The Moon Jae-in administration's claim to move the Blue House and the National Assembly to Sejong is effectively moving the capital, but they do not say so explicitly and instead call it moving the administrative capital," adding, "It misleads the public into thinking the capital remains in Seoul while only the administrative capital is relocated."

Regarding the reasons given by the Moon administration for relocating the administrative capital, such as national balanced development and curbing overpopulation in the metropolitan area, he pointed out, "The administrative city was built in Sejong for these two reasons, but even though almost all government administrative power has moved there, the population remains only about 300,000 after 10 years," emphasizing, "Moving capital functions does not increase population."

He continued, "Constantly relocating administrative and government agencies to various local areas disperses the capital's functions, which does not lead to balanced development but rather causes the capital to decline," and stated, "National balanced development is not achieved by moving administrative agencies to a specific city." He cited overseas examples such as Canberra and Sydney in Australia, and Ankara and Istanbul in Turkey.

Lee Dal-gon, a Future United Party lawmaker, also noted, "Sejong City's population is between 300,000 and 400,000, but only 40,000 people have moved there from Seoul over the past seven years," criticizing, "We need to find new methodologies; simply pushing people out through surgical measures will not reduce the metropolitan population." He suggested significantly fostering local universities and improving living conditions in local areas as solutions.

Kim Hyung-gi, Professor Emeritus at Kyungpook National University, pointed out that for national balanced development, regional decentralization initiatives such as the 4+2 metropolitan economic zones promoted during the Roh Moo-hyun administration should be pursued rather than relocating the administrative capital. Lawyer Lee Soo-hee also criticized, saying, "Kim Tae-nyeon, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, talks about relocating the National Assembly and the Blue House, but this is not an administrative capital relocation but a capital relocation," calling it unconstitutional.

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