Special Law on New Administrative Capital Finally Passed

The National Assembly held a plenary session on December 29 and passed a special law relocating the new administrative capital, which delivers President Roh Moo-hyun’s main presidential campaign pledge of moving the administrative capital to Chungcheong Province.

In addition, the National Assembly approved three special laws regarding decentralization policy that the participatory government has been pushing forward, such as special law for the nation’s balanced development and a special law for decentralization. According to the special law for the nation’s balanced development, the government will assist companies located in metropolitan areas with financial and administrative support and also with land utilization, only if they transfer out of the metropolitan area.

As the special law for the new administrative capital passed the plenary session of the National Assembly, the government will soon settle on a standard for site selection and a fundamental blueprint before finalizing its main project through a discussion in the cabinet in January of next year, giving a resilient move in its capital relocation plan.

The special law duly limits not only the prearranged district for the new administrative capital but also developments in peripheral areas. Also, the reward in case of land purchase will be based upon the declared value as of January 1 of this year.

Meanwhile, the Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts held a settlement session for the budgetary plan and fixed 118.36 trillion won as the annual expenditure for the new year’s budget based on general accounting, which is more than the 117.54 trillion won of the government’s original plan. This figure is 0.2 percent higher than this year’s final budget, including the twice revised supplementary budget.

However, the new budgetary plan is designed on the assumption that a ratification of the Free Trade Agreement between Korea and Chile currently pending at the plenary session is approved. Therefore, if the ratification bill is rejected later, changes on relevant budget items and delayed approval of the budgetary plan seem inevitable.

In a management meeting, the Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts revised the budget for public fund reimbursement to be reflected in general budget from 2005 instead of starting next year, which removes the amount of 1.64 trillion won from the previously discussed 120 trillion won total annual expenditure budget.

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