Lee says politics should not affect regional development

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with Cheong Wa Dae's briefing)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak, hard-pressed to win public
support for his "Sejong City" project, said Tuesday that regional development
should not be viewed from a political perspective.
Lee's controversial push to alter his predecessor's plan to create an
administrative town, named Sejong City, in the central province of South
Chungcheong has become a hot-button political issue.
The government announced its decision last month to turn the city into a
"business, science, and education" hub. The alternative plan, subject to the
National Assembly's approval, is unpopular among local residents and opposition
parties. Even some lawmakers in the ruling Grand National Party are opposed to
it.
On his first trip to the Chungcheong region since the announcement of the revised
plan, Lee stressed balanced regional development is not a political issue.
"I think regional development can't be achieved if everything is thought of in
terms of political calculations and judgments," he said during a photo session
while meeting with local government officials, who briefed the president on North
Chungcheong's vision for regional growth.
Lee stressed that local governments should have an economic mindset and
future-oriented policy for development, adding his revision plan for Sejong City
will benefit North Chungcheong Province.
"If a science-business belt is formed, North Chungcheong Province will become a
beneficiary, not a victim," Lee said, according to his spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye.
Lee also reaffirmed his will to develop the Cheongju International Airport as a
main gateway to the country's central area, Kim added in a press briefing.
Another aide to the president cautioned media against attaching too much meaning
to Lee's trip to Cheongju, some 130 kilometers south of Seoul, with regard to the
Sejong City issue, saying it was just aimed to discuss ways to develop the area.
"Among the issues discussed were ways to create jobs, accelerate a national
project to refurbish the Geumgang river running through the central area, and
promote a plan to build a bio-health science cluster in Osong (on the outskirts
of Cheongju)," the official added.
On Monday, Cheong Wa Dae made clear that it has no intention to seek a national
referendum on the revision plan, saying the government will not give up efforts
to broaden public support for it.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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