Gov't, GNP leadership scrambles to defend Sejong City plan

By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- The government and ruling party leadership scrambled
on Tuesday to quell internal protests over its plan to build a hotly contested
business-science hub in the country's central region, and to woo constituents in
the area.
The project, announced on Monday, reverses a plan initiated by the previous
administration to relocate a number of key government bodies to Sejong City in
South Chungcheong Province, some 150 kilometers south of Seoul. Under the
proposed revisions, the new city would be turned into a business and science hub
with several leading South Korean conglomerates already having agreed to set up
operations there.
The revision has ignited a political backdraft from the main opposition
Democratic Party (DP) and other minor parties, which have vowed an all-out fight
to block the National Assembly from approving the plan.
Hoping to deflect potential political damage, the GNP's mainstream leadership
that sides with the president ramped up efforts to woo constituents in the
Chungcheong region by scheduling small-group debates and briefing sessions
throughout the province in the upcoming days.
"With the government's new plan, the GNP will have to engage in an intense and
open debate. We will try to gather the opinion of Chungcheong residents and the
nation," Ahn Sang-soo, the GNP's floor leader, said during a meeting with the
party's leadership.
Prime Minister Chung Un-chan also said during a Cabinet meeting that the
administration will move forward in persuading people of the plan by "explaining
the development vision of Sejong City."
"I believe that the people will trust in the government's sincerity and support
it if (we) explain (the plan and its vision) to the people with all our effort,"
Chung said.
Despite such efforts, the government and the GNP leadership are in for a tough
struggle against opposition parties and a faction within its own ranks whose
loyalty lies with Park Geun-hye, a former presidential contender who ran
unsuccessfully in 2007 against President Lee Myung-bak for the GNP ticket.
Park, the daughter of former President Park Chung-hee, said last week that she is
in favor of honoring the original plan, presented by the administration of former
President Roh Moo-hyun to promote balanced national growth.
"The nation has fallen into turmoil as the government has overturned the project
that has already been injected with 5.4 trillion won (US$ 4.8 billion) during the
last five years," the GNP's Lee Jung-hyun, a close confidant of Park, said in a
radio interview.
Revisions to an already-existing bill pertaining to the original plan must be
approved by more than half of sitting lawmakers. Without support from Park and
her 50-some followers in and outside of the GNP, the plan will face difficulty
gaining approval in the National Assembly.
At present, the GNP controls 169 seats in the 299-member unicameral house,
compared with the DP's 87 seats.
Yoo Seung-min, another GNP legislator close to Park, said that he will oppose the
plan "even if the party decides the fate of (the plan) through a party platform."
Opposition parties, meanwhile, continued their protest against the government's
plan while at the same time trying to measure overall public sentiment towards
the revision.
Lee Kang-rae, the DP floor leader, said during a party leadership meeting that
the country's efforts over the past 50 years to solve the problem overcrowding in
metropolitan areas, and bring about decentralization and balanced regional growth
have been abolished.
Liberty Forward Party chief Lee Hoi-chang also said in a radio interview that the
revision is driving the country in the opposite direction from efforts to reach
balanced development.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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