Sejong City
Sejong
세종 世宗 | |
|---|---|
| Sejong Special Autonomous City | |
| transcription(s) | |
| • Hangul | 세종특별자치시 |
| • Hanja | 世宗特別自治市 |
| • Revised Romanization | Sejong Teukbyeol-jachisi |
| • McCune-Reischauer | Sechong Tŭkpyŏl-chach’isi |
 Sejong City | |
 Map of South Korea with Sejong highlighted | |
| Country |  South Korea |
| Region | Hoseo |
| Districts | TBD |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Yu Han-sik |
| Area | |
| • Total | 465.23 km2 (179.63 sq mi) |
| Population (2012[1]) | |
| • Total | 96,000 |
| • Dialect | Chungcheong |
| Flower | TBD |
| Tree | TBD |
| Bird | TBD |
| Website | happycity.go.kr Template:En icon |
In early 2007, the Government of Republic of Korea decided to create a special administrative district housing nine ministries and four national agencies currently located in Seoul out of part of the present Chungcheongnam-do and Chungcheongbuk-do provinces, near Daejeon. The new district will be named Sejong Special Autonomous City (세종특별자치시, 世宗特別自治市). The plan for creation of the city arose after the failure of former President Roh Moo-hyun to relocate the national capital from Seoul to the region.[2] The prospective city was named in honor of the Joseon Dynasty King Sejong the Great, the father of Korea's national alphabet.[3] The plan envisages a city with a population of around 500,000 [4]
Plans for the city have resulted in numerous disputes in the National Assembly. In September 2009 Prime Minister Chung Un-chan opined that the plan to build Sejong as a national administrative center was "not an efficient policy when viewed from the eyes of an economist." (Chung would later further criticize Sejong City as pork barrel politics, proposed "only in consideration of garnering more votes.") [5] This led to more than a thousand senior scholars and politicians including three former prime ministers to call for a revision of the plan.[6] Geum Chang-ho, a senior research fellow of the Korea Research Institute for Local Administration, noted that the original plan had drawn criticism that the city would have many of the ten thousand government employees separated from their families, which would remain in the Seoul area to take advantage of such amenities as perceived superior educational opportunities. As a result of the separations, Sejong would experience a toadstool effect, with bars, nightclubs etc. springing up virtually overnight. Therefore, the government has "been studying ways to make Sejong self-sufficient..." [4]. The Grand National Party (Saenuri Party) plans to alleviate internal conflict and seek support from the Chungcheong region for the government's new plan to develop Sejong into a hub of education, science and business.
A faction led by President Lee Myung-bak's political rival Rep. Park Geun-hye within the Grand National Party, all opposition parties and a majority of people in the Chungcheong region are against scrapping the original plan to relocate government ministries to Sejong in South Chungcheong Province.
External links
References
- ^ Parties debate Sejong City’s addition to electoral map
- ^ Sejong City Struggle
- ^ BBC NEWS: S Korea chooses new capital site
- ^ a b Kang Hyun-kyung, ""Sejong City Project Will Have Far-Reaching Ramifications"," The Korea Times, Sept. 26-27, 2009, p. 2.
- ^ Sejong pledge only made to gain votes: P.M.
- ^ The Korea Herald | A political hot potato: Sejong
36°29′13″N 127°16′56″E / 36.487002°N 127.282234°E
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