[Opinion] Moving the Capital

Bolshevik leader Lenin, who deposed the Russian czar from power with the October Revolution, moved the capital as soon as he grabbed power. He left St. Petersburg, which had the deep roots of the old czarist powers, and moved the capital to Moscow. With this decision, Lenin intended to root out the “anti-revolutionary” forces based in the old capital. Afterwards, Lenin also renamed the city after him – Leningrad, or the city of Lenin.

Nevertheless, Lenin was not the first Russian leader to move the capital in order to strengthen his base of power. In fact, the original capital of Russia was Moscow, but Czar Peter the Great moved the capital in the early 18th century. It is said that one of the hidden motives behind this was his desire to keep the conservative powers, who were based in Moscow and objected to reforms, in check. One-third of the entire population was mobilized to construct the new city, and Moscow residents who refused to leave were forced to move. This was how St. Petersburg, or “Peter’s City,” came to existence. In sum, the Russian capital moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg because of the ruler’s political agenda.

Rumors that current Russian President Vladimir Putin might relocate the capital to St. Petersburg, his hometown, are based on such historical facts. As of last week, a bill was presented to the Russian Lower House proposing to disperse the functions of the capital city to other regions. In other words, the bill was designed to stop power from concentrating in Moscow and move some of the government institutions to other regions. Some predicted that a movement to find a new capital had started, but when the voting started, only one member favored it and that was the end of the bill. Most of the members of the Lower House had opposed the bill because of the waste of administrative power and astronomical costs to relocate the capital.

As strong as the Putin administration is, when dealing with the issue of relocating the capital, it has to be cautious. The reason behind it is Russia’s past experience of moving the capital back and forth on the “word” of the ruler. In contrast, the Roh administration is hurrying to move the capital. If the reason for moving the capital is, as President Roh said, “To leave the roots of the old forces and find a firm foothold for the new forces to rule the country,” then his cause is no different from that of Lenin’s or Czar Peter’s. Who knows? Just as Russian history has shown, we might also shuttle back and forth between Seoul and the new administrative capital that is to be built…

Moscow = Special Correspondent Kim Ki-hyun kimkihy@donga.com