(EDITORIAL from the JoongAng Daily on Nov. 9)

What is the price of beauty?

If something looks more spacious and brilliant than it should, there is probably
a reason for suspicion.

The new Seongnam City Hall in Gyeonggi is a prime example. The building, which is
scheduled to open Nov. 18, has continued to attract a steady stream of criticism
for wasting taxpayer money. A closer look at the numbers tells us all we need to
know.
Seongnam City Hall is estimated to have cost over 320 billion won ($270 million).
It is 74,000 square meters (797,000 square feet) in size and will house over 700
public officials. In comparison, the new city hall building in Seoul is expected
to cost 228.8 billion won. Its 90,000 square meters will house more than 2,000
public officials. It would be an understatement to say the Seongnam building is
excessive.
The city of Seongnam earned strong criticism for the building during the
parliamentary inspection of the administration last year. In its defense the city
claims the building was built with the next 50 to 100 years in mind, however
there have been few people willing to say that a building with a luxurious lobby
decorated with marble floors and a three-story escalator is appropriate for use
in a city hall.
When City Council members of the Grand National Party passed the bill related to
the construction of the Seongnam City Hall building in 2006 without reaching
consensus, members of the Democratic Party staged a sit-in that lasted 50 days.
Even today, there are 12 Democratic Party members still refusing to move into
offices in the new building.
There have been numerous cases in which local governments have received criticism
for building lavish buildings. It is difficult to understand why the city of
Seongnam pushed ahead with its original plan despite the concerns about the
building. The city says it is aiming to make ???Seongnam the best city, full of
dreams and happiness.??? But building the best building does not necessarily mean
one is building the best city.
No matter how high the income levels of the citizens of the Bundang District in
Seongnam may become, there are still plenty of people who are unable to afford a
monthly rent of 100,000 won. Can Seongnam???s magnificent new building help these
citizens? Seongnam can only realize its goal of becoming the ???best??? city when
taxpayer money is spent in an appropriate manner for the convenience and welfare
of all of its citizens, rather than creating a building that is embellished with
decorative features.
Although the city???s haughty attitude does not sit well with many people, the
building is already built. Now, we urge the city of Seongnam to provide
administrative services that will be worthy of its gorgeous new building.
(END)

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