The Site for New Administrative Capital to be Confirmed in August

The site for the new administrative capital will be confirmed in August.

The Presidential Committee on Administrative Capital Relocation (PCAC) had the first meeting on May 21 and decided on the criteria for choosing the candidate sites for the new administrative capital and the schedule for the site selection.

PCAC decided to select several candidate sites by the middle of June and disclose the results of the assessment of them. It is planning to announce the final site in August through public hearings and discussions with concerned ministries.

So far the government had said that it will select the candidate sites for the new administrative capital in the first half of this year and confirm the final selection in the last half.

PCAC adopted three criteria in choosing candidate sites, which are the conformity with the purpose of administrative capital relocation, the potentialities for development, and the necessity of conservation.

The assessment of the candidate sites will be carried out by a separate “assessment committee” which will be composed of approximately 80 people recommended from each city and province.

An executive member of PCAC Park Sang-gyu said, “Only the criteria for assessment of candidate sites has been arranged, and nothing about the number of candidate sites or which is the strongest candidate site have not been confirmed.”

However, Osong District in North Chungcheong Province and three districts in South Chungcheong Province: Janggi district, Asan new town, and Nonsan-Gyeryong district are taken as strong candidates by the housing and real estate industrial world.

Osong District, which is passed through by Korea Train Express (KTX) Gyeongbu line, Korean National Railroad Gyeongbu line and Chungbuk line, and the Gyeongbu Expressway, is a strong candidate site in terms of conditions of transportation. Janggi District is the one considered as the strongest candidate site for the administrative capital relocation plan by the late former President Park Jung-hee administration.

In the case of Asan new town, KTX Cheonan-Asan station was built in it as the plan of new town development was confirmed, and the plan of relocation of universities and public institution has also been arranged. Though Nonsan-Gyeryong District is being considered as a candidate site thanks to the vicinity to Daejeon Government Complex and the headquarters of armed forces, its proximity to Daejeon is pointed out as a weak point.

There is a possibility that three or four more candidate sites will be selected to provide more choices.

Kwang-Hyun Kim kkh@donga.com