Seoul makes final choice on new capital site

South korean government selected the Yongi-Gongju area in South Chungcheong Province Wednesday as the site for the country's new capital. It is located some 160 km south of Seoul.

"The selected region has a good natural environment and transportation infrastructure," Prime Minister Lee Hai-chan said.

"Its geographical location at the center of the country is expected to help promote balanced regional development."

The government will immediately lift all construction-related restrictions imposed on the three other candidate areas, Gongju-Nonsan, Cheonan, and Eumseong-Jincheon, he added.

The announcement is expected to add to the already fractious debate over the efficiency and feasibility of the project.

The rival parties have been in conflict for months over the issue of relocating the capital away from Seoul, a key plank of President Roh's campaign manifesto.

The president believes the capital relocation is crucial to the decentralization of the country and the encouragement of balanced regional development.

However, the main opposition Grand National Party has claimed that the government is recklessly pushing what it says is an unrealistic plan without popular support.

A media survey showed that more than half of the public are opposed to the plan, citing its high costs compared with its expected effects.

"The government's unilateral announcement of the new capital site is invalid," Lee Hahn-koo, the GNP's chief policy coordinator said. "It is nonsense to call it the execution of a law."

The GNP plans to join forces with the progressive Democratic Labor Party, which has decided to oppose the relocation.

Prime Minister Lee, however, dismissed such criticisms as mere political attacks.

"It is a legal matter for the government to proceed with the capital relocation plan as scheduled," he said. "Otherwise, we are not abiding by the law on capital relocation."

Lee was talking about the special law on the relocation that the rival parties passed in the National Assembly last year.

The ruling Uri Party has also reiterated its support for the move.

"The calls for a delay of the capital relocation project are tantamount to a demand for a violation of the law," Uri Party chairman Shin Ki-nam said.

"We will support the scheme in consultation with the government."

The government plans to begin purchasing land needed for constructing the new capital next year, with construction scheduled to start in 2007 and be completed in 2030.

The presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, and 72 other key state institutions will be located there.

Other organizations, such as the National Assembly and the Supreme Court will be allowed to make their own decisions on whether to move or not.

Estimates of the total cost of the project range from 45 trillion won (US$40 billion) to 110 trillion won.

/Source: Agencies