Jung Se-kyun: "Lee Myung-bak Government Weakened Administrative Capital... Cause of Population Concentration in Seoul Metropolitan Area"

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun is attending the government questioning session on diplomacy, unification, and security held at the National Assembly plenary session on the 15th, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun pointed out that former President Lee Myung-bak undermined regional balanced development, leading to population concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area.

On the afternoon of the 17th, during a government-wide questioning session on education, society, and culture held at the National Assembly, Prime Minister Chung responded "I agree" to a question from Song Ki-heon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who asked, "Do you think the relocation of public institutions has had the effect of alleviating population concentration in Seoul and the metropolitan area?"

He said, "I announced the administrative capital relocation pledge alongside former President Roh Moo-hyun," adding, "Former President Lee changed the name, downgraded its role, and almost nullified the administrative capital plan."

He continued, "If the two initiatives?the difficult relocation of public institutions to local areas and the Special Act on Enterprise Cities?had worked properly, I do not think the population concentration in the metropolitan area would have occurred. At that time, these two initiatives lost their momentum," and added, "I feel a sense of duty that now is the time to regain that momentum and start again."

He also emphasized, "I believe that beyond just having public institutions located there until now, Innovation Cities need to lead local development and make efforts to dispel concerns about local extinction by taking on other roles."

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