"Accelerating the Establishment of the National Assembly Sejong Chamber"... Prime Minister Chung Chairs Sejong City Support Committee

Planning and Discussion of Regional Development Plans for Sejong, Daejeon, Chungnam, and Chungbuk
Promotion of Sejong City Construction Phase 3 by 2030
Establishment of Joint Campus, Sejong Tech Valley, and Smart City

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun responding to Justice Party lawmaker Hye-young's question during the National Assembly's government-related economic inquiry session. (Image source=Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government and Sejong City are accelerating efforts to establish a branch of the National Assembly in Sejong City.

The government announced that Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun chaired the "20th Sejong Special Self-Governing City Support Committee (Support Committee)" at the Government Sejong Complex on the afternoon of the 27th.

The Support Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Chung, is composed of 27 members according to the Sejong Special Self-Governing City Establishment Special Act.

At this meeting, three agenda items were discussed: ▲ Sejong City and Daejeon, Chungnam, Chungbuk metropolitan development plans ▲ Completion of the administrative capital and establishment of an innovation growth foundation ▲ Evaluation results and utilization plans of Sejong City's 2019 operational performance.

Proposal for "Establishment of the National Assembly Sejong Chamber"

On the 10th, cherry blossoms are in full bloom along Yunjungno near the National Assembly building in Yeouido, Seoul, where spring rain has fallen. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

Sejong City proposed a plan to complete the administrative capital at the meeting. It presented a two-track strategy to secure the status of the administrative capital and transfer major national institutions such as the National Assembly and the Blue House to Sejong City.

First, it expressed the opinion that the constitutional court's ruling declaring the "New Administrative Capital Special Act" unconstitutional must be remedied to secure the status of the administrative capital. This requires processes such as constitutional amendment and consensus legislation. It also stated that the National Assembly, Blue House, and other institutions should be relocated to Sejong City to ultimately complete the administrative capital.

Along with this, it proposed the establishment of the National Assembly Sejong Chamber, additional relocation of central administrative agencies not yet moved and presidential advisory bodies such as the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development, and the establishment of the 2nd Administrative Court and District Court.

In particular, regarding the National Assembly Sejong Chamber, it urged the National Assembly to promptly decide on amendments to the National Assembly Act, the specific scale of construction, and the confirmation of the site.

The government stated that if the National Assembly confirms the establishment of the Sejong Chamber, it plans to swiftly proceed with "preliminary planning service → total project cost negotiation → design competition → basic and detailed design → construction."

Sejong-Daejeon-Chungcheong Metropolitan Development Plan Presented

KTX Osong Station late-night express bus. (Photo by Cheongju City Hall)

The Support Committee announced that it will accelerate the implementation of the "Sejong City Construction Phase 3" from this year until 2030. It identified resolving administrative inefficiencies, reinforcing self-sufficient functions, and promoting mutual development as supplementary tasks.

In Phase 3, the functions of the happy city will be completed through strengthening national administrative hub functions, fostering urban growth functions, and advancing infrastructure.

From next year, the planned areas will be gradually lifted, and management authority will be transferred to Sejong City. In preparation, the city plans to designate candidate sites for the National Assembly Sejong Chamber and others as special management zones. It will push for the amendment of the Happy City Act in November.

The Administrative City Construction Agency (Happy Agency) and four cities and provinces in the Chungcheong region presented a plan to promote "Chungcheong Regional Metropolitan Win-Win Development," covering Daejeon and Chungcheongnam-do and Chungcheongbuk-do.

To strengthen connectivity among hub cities such as Daejeon, Sejong, Cheongju, and Cheonan, they are reviewing the establishment of various metropolitan transportation networks including roads, BRT, and railways.

Big data New Deal projects by each city and province in the Chungcheong region will be linked with the AI data center in the Happy City to develop, demonstrate, and expand smart services.

They will increase the supply of hydrogen vehicles such as Chungcheong region BRT and city buses, and expand the number of hydrogen charging stations in the Chungcheong region from 8 as of August to 85 by 2022.

Last Year’s Sejong City Administration: '34% Excellent, 66% Good'

Exterior view of Sejong City Hall building. (Photo by Administrative City Construction Agency)

According to last year's evaluation of Sejong City's administrative performance, out of 32 indicators, 11 were rated excellent (34%) and 21 were rated good (66%).

The number of public bicycles increased from 1,475 units the previous year to 2,595 last year, educational disparities in towns and townships were resolved, and local food sales rose from 23.8 billion KRW the previous year to 27.3 billion KRW last year.

Accordingly, the overall citizen satisfaction score was 5.24 out of 7 points, up 0.15 points from 5.09 the previous year.

However, it was advised to review and improve areas such as developing regional-linked tourism products through cooperation with neighboring local governments and revitalizing the local economy through the Youth Jochiwon project.

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