Four conglomerates sign accords to invest in new business hub

(ATTN: UPDATES with remarks by Chung in 5th para, SSF's deal in paras 10-11)
By Shim Sun-ah
SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- Four local conglomerates pledged Thursday to invest in
the new city of Sejong, the prime minister's office said, as the government moves
to build momentum for its revised plan that aims to turn the city into a business
and science hub.
Samsung, Hanwha, Lotte and Woongjin signed separate memorandums of understanding
(MOUs) with the government to invest a total of 4.38 trillion won (US$3.87
billion) in the construction of manufacturing and research facilities in the
city, the office said.
Two universities -- Korea University and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science
and Technology (KAIST) -- also signed MOUs to build new campuses in Sejong City,
some 150 kilometers south of Seoul, it added.
The signing comes three days after the government announced that it would scrap a
controversial plan to relocate a dozen government offices out of Seoul and
instead seek to attract corporations, universities and high-tech research centers
to the designated site.
The move is tantamount to "fastening the first button" to the 16.5-trillion-won
project, Prime Minister Chung Un-chan said during the signing ceremony held in
Seoul. The government aims to turn Sejong into a "future-oriented high-tech
business city" with a population of 500,000 by 2020.
The MOUs included the government's promise to provide cheaper land, tax cuts and
financial support to the investors, officials said. Any changes to the original
plan require parliamentary consent.
The government also pledged efforts to complete necessary legal and
administrative steps by the end of this year to implement the plan, they said.
In 2005, the administration of then liberal President Roh Moo-hyun decided to
relocate nine ministries and four subsidiary agencies to the city in South
Chungcheong Province in phases from 2012 to 2030 to decentralize the capital
area. His successor, President Lee Myung-bak, has sought to reverse the plan,
saying it would cause administrative inefficiency and waste taxpayers' money. The
government's proposed revisions have caused a political uproar among opposition
parties, Chungcheong residents and even some members of the ruling party.
Chung said on Wednesday that he will soon issue an advance legislative notice on
the revised plan in the hope of reducing social confusion that might be caused by
the slow progress of the plan.
Also present at Thursday's ceremony were two other lawmakers, executives of the
four conglomerates and representatives from the two universities.
In October, SSF, an Austrian manufacturer of solar power cell modules, signed an
MOU in Vienna with the Seoul government to spend 138 billion won on a Sejong City
venture, making it the sole foreign investor so far.
The city is named after the inventor of the Korean alphabet, King Sejong, of the
Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).
sshim@yna.co.kr
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