Park Byeong-seok, Speaker of the National Assembly: "Sejong Assembly Hall Act must be passed in plenary session before the regular session... Balanced development is the spirit of the times"

Speaker of the National Assembly Park Byeong-seok, marking his first anniversary in office, holds a press conference at the National Assembly on the 21st. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] On the morning of the 13th, National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok, during a senior secretary meeting held at the Speaker's office, stated, "The 14.7 billion KRW allocated for the design of the National Assembly Sejong Office, agreed upon by both ruling and opposition parties, must be executed within this year," and urged, "Please make every effort to ensure that the amendment to the National Assembly Act, which serves as the basis for the construction of the National Assembly Sejong Office, is passed in the plenary session before the regular National Assembly session."

Speaker Park emphasized, "Balanced national development is an irreversible spirit of the times," and added, "The construction of the National Assembly Sejong Office symbolizes this." He continued, "Since the goal is to break ground by 2024, when the 21st National Assembly's term ends, the next procedures must proceed as quickly as possible," and noted, "The National Assembly's allocation of 14.7 billion KRW as design costs is proof that there is already an agreement to build the Sejong Office."

Speaker Park stated, "We will do our best to ensure that the design costs for the Sejong Office are executed this year," and added, "I have also requested sufficient exchange of opinions and processing from the leadership of both ruling and opposition parties and plan to emphasize this again." He particularly mentioned, "The Seoul metropolitan area accounts for only 11.7% of the national land area but already exceeds 50% of the population. To solve issues such as real estate, transportation, housing, and regional decline together, the overflowing metropolitan area and the underpopulated regions must complement each other."

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