[Editorial] Alternative Plan to Administration Capital Should Take the Constitutional Court’s Decision into Account

Among the 11 alternative plans reported to the Construction and Transportation Committee of the National Assembly by the Follow-up Measures Committee on the New Administrative Capital, the following three plans have the weight: the administration special city; administration-centered city; and education, science, and administration city. Among these three substitute plans, the government should promote a plan compatible with the decision of the Constitutional Court so that it could avoid political confusion and repeated disappointment to the Chungcheong people.

The administration special city means that all administration posts except those in Cheong Wa Dae will move, and administration-centered city means that all but three related to foreign affairs and security and Cheong Wa Dae will move. The government said that it reflected the Constitutional Court’s ruling during the meeting for follow-up measures, but a thorough review is necessary to find out whether one of the above two plans falls under “capital relocation” ruled unconstitutional by the court.

The Constitutional Court’s conclusion defined capital as “the seat of national institutions that perform pivotal roles in politics and administration.” Nevertheless, it stated that a dispersed arrangement of government organizations could be politically considered since distance can be overcome using high-tech electronic technologies. In other words, it can be interpreted that pivotal institutions must remain in the capital, but some government posts can be dispersed. The government should come up with a plan honoring such a decision lest it should revive a national controversy or repeat the court’s ruling.

The dissolution of metropolitan overcrowding and balanced regional development are important, but the national administration’s efficiency should also be considered as an important factor. The form in which the president and the National Assembly remain in Seoul and almost all posts move to a new administration city is quite abnormal.

Education, science, and administration city is a plan in which seven affiliated organizations to the Education Minister and Science and Technology Minister and deputy prime ministers will move. If this plan is realized, the economic effect can be enhanced by linking it with the Daeduk R&D special zone. It also does not counter the Constitutional Court’s ruling. Yet, it is unknown whether the plan can calm the Chungcheong people’s dissatisfaction. The government should converge all the citizens’ opinions and find a plan, which takes a unified Korea into account so that the next administration can take the baton of constructing a new administration city in the Chungcheong Province smoothly.