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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

Lee Jae-myung Government Accelerates Plan to Complete Sejong Administrative Capital by 2029

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • South Korea’s government says central ministries and public institutions will begin moving to Sejong in the first half of next year under a second relocation plan.
  • The plan aims to shift administrative functions away from Seoul, with a presidential Sejong office targeted for completion in August 2029.
  • The Sejong National Assembly complex is scheduled to begin construction in 2029 and finish in 2033.

The Lee Jae-myung government is pushing to turn Sejong from a city that hosts relocated agencies into the completed center of South Korea’s administration. A second relocation plan announced on the 3rd calls for central ministries, including the Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Gender Equality, along with public institutions in the Seoul metropolitan area, to move to Sejong from the first half of next year.

Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said Sejong is “a symbol and central pillar of balanced development.” She said the presidential Sejong office would be built by August 2029, with the goal of placing the center of government in the city. She also pledged support for the National Assembly’s Sejong complex, scheduled for completion in 2033.

Sejong Special Self-Governing City is a symbol and central pillar of balanced development.

· Han Seong-sookThe prime minister described Sejong’s role at a government briefing on the relocation plan.

The project reflects a central pledge of President Lee’s campaign: disperse administrative and public functions concentrated in the capital region and make Sejong a base for balanced national development. During the presidential primary last year, Lee said balanced development was “a matter of survival, not a choice” and promised to complete Sejong as the center of the administrative capital while moving ahead quickly with a second round of public-institution relocations.

Balanced development is a matter of survival, not a choice.

· Lee Jae-myungLee made the statement during his presidential primary campaign while advocating Sejong’s completion as the administrative capital.

Lee has framed the policy as more than a transfer of offices. At a Cabinet meeting last month, he called for the government to open the era of the Sejong presidential office during his term and work with the determination to hold its final Cabinet meeting there. He also called for continued legal and institutional support to complete Sejong’s administrative-capital role in practical and final terms.

Next year’s budget includes 205.7 billion won to begin construction of the presidential office and 119.1 billion won for the National Assembly complex’s basic design. Construction of the presidential office is to start next year, while the Assembly complex is scheduled to break ground in 2029 and open in 2033.

We must make every effort to open the era of the Sejong presidential office during our government’s term and hold the final Cabinet meeting there.

· Lee Jae-myungHe urged officials to advance the Sejong plan at a Cabinet meeting last month.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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