A recent survey showed that slightly over half of South Koreans supported relocating Cheong Wa Dae and the National Assembly to the de facto administrative capital of Sejong City.

The survey conducted by Realmeter showed Wednesday that 73.5 percent of the 1,006 respondents agreed that not enough measures were being carried out to ease the current overpopulation and centralization of Seoul that damages balanced national and regional development.

Of the respondents, 50.1 percent said that they agreed that major government bodies such as the National Assembly and Cheong Wa Dae should move to Sejong City, compared to 38.6 percent that did not agree. Some 11.3 percent said they were not sure.
Construction for the special administrative district began in 2007 as part of the measure to balance out the country’s development which is heavily concentrated in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan region. The district was created from parts of the Chungcheong provinces near Daejeon.

Since the official launch of what is formally called the Sejong Metropolitan Autonomous City in 2012, a total of 36 ministries including the Prime Minister’s Office, agencies, committees and affiliate organizations have been relocated.

Calls within the political circle to relocate the two key government organizations – the presidential office and the parliament – have persisted, as the dual administrative locations were cited as a major hurdle for efficient operation.

The survey also found that those who were more supportive of the relocation of Cheong Wa Dae and the Assembly included 73.4 percent of those living in Sejong and nearby regions, 61.8 percent of those in their 30s, 64.2 percent of those in their 40s, and 57.2 percent of those with progressive disposition.

In comparison, only 37.8 percent of Seoul’s residents, 37.7 percent of those aged 60 and over, and 42 percent of those that identified themselves as conservatives agreed to the need for the relocation.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)