Government and the Ruling Party Agreed on Transfer of Government Agencies Except for Foreign and Defense Ministries

In order to construct a new administrative capital in Yeongi-Gonju, Chungnam, the government and the Uri Party have decided to stipulate the upper limit of the budget for the plan in the special law of follow-up measures which will be submitted to the National Assembly in February.

Uri Party’s Rep. Kim Han-gil, the chairman of the New Administrative Capital Follow-up Measures Special Committee, reported the agreed-upon result between the government and the ruling party as above on January 21 at the Party’s executive committee, which was held at the its central headquarters located in Youngdeunpo-gu, Seoul

At the additional briefing held at the National Assembly, Chairman Kim stated, “Germany also set an upper limit of 20 billion marks (12.97 trillion won based on the 1997 exchange rate) for the special law, and the actual cost was far below this limit,” and added, “Our upper limit will be sufficient at 10 trillion won.”

As a precondition for the transfer of administrative government agencies including Cheong Wa Dae, the government’s Administrative Capital Relocation Committee estimated a figure of 11.2 trillion won in June 2004.

Chairman Kim also announced, “The government and the ruling party agreed on the idea that the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry cannot be moved because those ministries should be accompanied by Cheong Wa Dae,” and added, “This can be interpreted that the new capital is close to the administration-centered city.”

Ho-Won Choi bestiger@donga.com