Sejong, South Korea – By the standards of South Korea’s teeming metropolises, Sejong is not much of a city.With a population of 400,000 people, Sejong, a planned city located about 100km (62 miles) south of Seoul, does not even crack the top 20 urban centres.
But if South Korea’s likely next president has his way, Sejong could soon become the country’s “de facto” capital.
Lee Jae-myung, the overwhelming favourite in Tuesday’s presidential election, has pledged to relocate the presidential office, legislature and numerous public institutions to Sejong as part of a renewed push to establish a new administrative capital.
“I will make Sejong the de facto administrative capital and Daejeon a global science capital,” Lee said in the run-up to the election, referring to the nearby central city.
“I will also push for the complete relocation of the National Assembly and presidential office to Sejong through social consensus.”
Sejong was conceived of in 2003 by late President Roh Moo-hyun, who believed that moving the capital would achieve the twin aims of reducing congestion in Seoul and encouraging development in South Korea’s central region. Advertisement
Roh’s ambitions for Sejong were dealt a setback the following year when the Constitutional Court ruled that Seoul should remain the capital.
While the prime minister’s office and about a dozen ministries have moved to Sejong over the years as part of successive governmen …
