Claimants against New Capital Relocation Participate in the Trial of Constitutional Court

Two hundred twenty-four residents of Yeon-gi County and Gong-ju City, the regions which are appointed as the prearranged construction site for the new administrative capital, and six residents of Gyung-book Province have participated in the constitutional petition for the “Special Law for Construction of New Administrative Capital” as assistant participants. The residents are against the relocation of the administrative capital and said, “Many regulations for development and construction were made after the administrative capital relocation plan was announced. Furthermore, the compensation is only one-fifth to one-tenth of the prices of the nearby lands.” Assistant participants are people who newly participate in the petition to help one side of the trial win.

The applicants of the constitutional petition have turned in a supplementary report with the reason for the petition to the Constitutional Court after thoroughly examining the written opinion turned in by Cheong Wa Dae, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, and the Ministry of Justice. In the supplementary report, the applicants said, “It was the precedents of the Constitutional Court to make a decision if constitutional explanation is necessary, even though no direct invasion of the applicants’ rights has occurred.” Also, they added that not calling for a national referendum is a misuse of power, and that if the relocation matter is not made clear by the constitutional petition, the relocation might be used politically and an invasion of constitutional rights might occur.

Sang-Rok Lee myzodan@donga.com