ID :
87894
Wed, 11/04/2009 - 21:26
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/87894
The shortlink copeid
Prime minister vows to alter gov't relocation plan
SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Chung Un-chan on Wednesday said the
government will revise a 2005 plan to move a dozen government ministries and
agencies out of Seoul and draw an alternative plan by January through public
hearings and other consensus-building procedures.
Chung told a news conference that the planned construction of a new
administrative city would inevitably trigger "administrative inefficiency and
difficulties for the people."
Chung's announcement came amid escalating bipartisan wrangling over a bill passed
during the previous government to relocate nine ministries and four government
agencies to the new administrative city of Sejong, now under construction on a
site in South Chungcheong Province, about 160 km south of Seoul.
The new administrative city was created as a result of former President Roh
Moo-hyun's election campaign promise in 2002, a move critics called a "political
gesture" to garner support from the neutral Chungcheong region. Sejong was
derived from the name of a Joseon Dynasty king who invented the Korean alphabet.
Indications of the Lee Myung-bak government's bid to downsize the Sejong project
have angered opposition parties as well as Chungcheong residents.
"We will gather opinions from various social and political sectors, basing the
final alternative plan upon a broad consensus. We aim to come up with the final
alternative plan by January next year," Chung said at the press conference.
"The original goal of developing Sejong into a self-sufficient city with a
population of 500,000 can hardly be attained. The project is also feared to
create administrative inefficiency and difficulties for the people. We should
review the project before it is too late."
By next week, the government plans to set up an independent committee composed of
25 people, including ministers and experts to work on modifying the plan,
government officials said. The committee will be co-chaired by the prime minister
and a civilian representative, they said.
hayney@yna.co.kr
government will revise a 2005 plan to move a dozen government ministries and
agencies out of Seoul and draw an alternative plan by January through public
hearings and other consensus-building procedures.
Chung told a news conference that the planned construction of a new
administrative city would inevitably trigger "administrative inefficiency and
difficulties for the people."
Chung's announcement came amid escalating bipartisan wrangling over a bill passed
during the previous government to relocate nine ministries and four government
agencies to the new administrative city of Sejong, now under construction on a
site in South Chungcheong Province, about 160 km south of Seoul.
The new administrative city was created as a result of former President Roh
Moo-hyun's election campaign promise in 2002, a move critics called a "political
gesture" to garner support from the neutral Chungcheong region. Sejong was
derived from the name of a Joseon Dynasty king who invented the Korean alphabet.
Indications of the Lee Myung-bak government's bid to downsize the Sejong project
have angered opposition parties as well as Chungcheong residents.
"We will gather opinions from various social and political sectors, basing the
final alternative plan upon a broad consensus. We aim to come up with the final
alternative plan by January next year," Chung said at the press conference.
"The original goal of developing Sejong into a self-sufficient city with a
population of 500,000 can hardly be attained. The project is also feared to
create administrative inefficiency and difficulties for the people. We should
review the project before it is too late."
By next week, the government plans to set up an independent committee composed of
25 people, including ministers and experts to work on modifying the plan,
government officials said. The committee will be co-chaired by the prime minister
and a civilian representative, they said.
hayney@yna.co.kr
