Lee calls for end to political disputes over Sejong City

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak called Saturday for an end to
protracted political disputes over his decision to scrap a plan by the former
administration to create an administrative town in the country's central region,
as millions of South Koreans head home for one of the country's largest annual
celebrations.
"What we want is not Sejong City for politics but Sejong City for the nation and
the people," Lee said in his special radio address ahead of the Lunar New Year's
holiday that falls on Sunday this year.
Lee urged the public and political circles to contemplate "which is the right way
for the people, the future of the country, and genuine patriotism."
His comments marked Lee's clearest public message in recent weeks on Sejong City,
located in South Chungcheong Province, which has been at the center of
months-long political bickering at the National Assembly and has fueld an
internal spat within the ruling Grand National Party (GNP).
Lee's administration announced last month that it would turn the city, about 130
kilometers south of Seoul, into a "science-business" hub, revising plans by
former President Roh Moo-hyun to move about a dozen ministries and government
agencies there.
Lee has faced a fierce backlash from local residents and opposition parties. Even
a host of lawmakers inside the GNP including Park Geun-hye, former head of the
party, are demanding that Lee stick to the original plan. The Sejong City issue
has rekindled a conflict between the president and Park, who competed with Lee
for the GNP ticket in the 2007 presidential election.
The president said the Sejong City project is aimed at "developing the region's
knowledge-based economy and its accomplishment will spill over not only to the
whole central area but also to the entire country."
He numerated several examples, including POSCO's steel plant in Pohang and
Hyundai Motor's plant in Ulsan, both of which are located in the southeast, as
well as a Samsung Electronics factory in Suwon and LG's LCD-manufacturing complex
in Paju, both in Gyeonggi Province near Seoul.
The president stressed those facilities helped the overall development of the
country.
"We all are in the same boat," he said. "The era has come that my fate, the
country's fate, and the world's fate are all intertwined."
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)