After the 2002 Presidential Election, a Sudden Increase in Migrants

According to Yeongi County, an average of 944 migrants moved into the country every month last year since December 2002, when the presidential election was held. The number of migrants who moved into the country in August 2002 was 644.

After Yeongi County was decided on as a site for the new administrative capital, the number of migrants has suddenly increased to 1,577 per month.

It was revealed that 15.6 percent of Gongju’s residents have moved into the city after September 2002. Gongju is another city that was also decided on as a site for the new administrative capital. Among the migrants, 26.7 percent are either from Seoul or Gyeonggi Province.

In August 2002, 703 migrants moved into Gongju, and last year, the average number of migrants to the city was 868 per month. This number has greatly increased to an average of 1,210 migrants per month.

The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs said, “Before Yeongi Country and Gongju were nominated as candidates for the new administrative capital, the numbers of people moving in and moving out were at the level of the numbers in August 2002. They suddenly increased beginning last year. The increase in the number of those moving out, as well as the increase in the number of those moving in, seems to be the result of an increase in the number of residents who have sold their houses and moved to another region.”

As well as the cases of Gongju, and Yeongi County, the number of migrants moving into Cheonan, Nonsan, and Jincheon counties, which used to be candidates for the new administrative capital, has also been increasing.

The number of migrants who moved into Cheonan in the August 2002 was 3,442 while last year, the number increased to an average of 4,369 migrants per month. This number is still increasing, and is now 5,642 migrants per month.

Experts in real estate figured that reasons why the number of migrants into Cheonan has increased include the city’s relatively short distance to Gongju and Yeongi County and its convenient transportation.

However, in Nonsan, which had 1,396 migrants to the city in August 2002, although the number of migrants increased to an average of 1,616 migrants per month last year, the number has decreased to 1,251 migrants per month in the first half of this year.

Hyun-Doo Lee ruchi@donga.com