An aerial view of Sejong Government Complex. Korea Times file

By Lee Kyung-min

The incoming administration of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is moving to elevate the status of Sejong City, an administrative town 144 kilometers south of Seoul, as illustrated by the transition committee's plan to transfer major components of the National Assembly to Sejong and set up a second presidential office there by 2027, according to government officials Thursday.

Setting up the second presidential office and a legislative building in Sejong was a key campaign pledge of Yoon, a vision he said would cement the sparsely populated city as the administrative capital where a number of central government ministries and state-run organizations will be relocated.

The city houses 47 central administrative organizations, 16 state think tanks and 24 government-affiliated institutions. About 20 key government organizations remain in Seoul including the foreign, defense, unification and gender equality ministries.

The transition committee and the National Agency for Administrative City Construction said Tuesday that they are discussing ways to speed up the construction of the two buildings.

"The construction agency is mapping out a plan to establish a new administrative, metropolitan megacity, fully engaging municipal authorities nearby to maximize cooperation to foster mutual, comprehensive growth including expanding the transportation networks," the transition committee said.

Housing for young residents and public servants, for example, will be improved to enhance living conditions, a priority long neglected due to a rush of government projects that centered on constructing ministry buildings and the bare minimum of commercial districts nearby.

Measures to attract businesses into the city will be outlined in the coming months, as well as educational facilities and regional campuses of prestigious universities.

The plan will be specified and overseen by the agency, as indicated by a city planning measure announced a day earlier.

The agency said the city's urban planning will be drastically revised to advance the construction of components of the presidential office and assembly.

"The 2022 plan is the first to be revised since it was set up in 2006," said an official at a government agency who declined to be named. "The construction will begin earlier than previously planned and cooperation with nearby provinces will be bolstered to strengthen the overall function of the city."

Sejong will provide incentives to housing a greater number of state-run research institutes.

A high-tech industrial ecosystem will be set up to promote integrated exchanges with their counterparts in the Seoul metropolitan area.

The Sejong branch of the National Assembly is expected in the first half of 2027, after construction begins next year.

Critical to the process is a feasibility study commissioned by the National Assembly Budget Office. The conclusion will be announced by October.

Included in the study are ways to share the function of 11 parliamentary standing committees and budget committee based in Seoul, previously outlined by the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements.