Seoul, January 11: South Korea on Monday announced a USD 14.6 billion blueprint to develop a new city as a science and education hub, scrapping controversial plans to relocate much of the government there.
The country’s biggest business group Samsung has signed a deal to move some operations to Sejong City, along with the Hanwha, Woongjin and Lotte groups, said Prime Minister Chung Un-Chan.
Today’s announcement officially axes a plan announced in 2005 by then-president Roh Moo-Hyun to relocate nine ministries and four subsidiary agencies to the proposed city 150 kilometres (94 miles) south of Seoul.
Roh’s liberal government had said the aim was to promote balanced regional development in a country where almost half the population lives in Seoul or surrounding cities.
The plan was also attractive to the Chungcheong region, whose traditionally uncommitted voters have often swung elections.
But Chung’s office said in a statement it “would have resulted in inefficiency and waste” of national resources.
However, the current conservative government will face an uphill battle securing parliamentary approval to change the plan, against objections from the opposition and from a sizeable faction of the ruling Grand National Party.
—PTI–