One worries that plans for the greater Seoul region are going awry. The government and ruling party held official consultations on Monday to discuss those plans. The goal is to fill in the vacuum that will be created by moving government agencies and corporations to the provinces and the construction of the "city of administration," and to relax the excessive regulations that were put in place to deter over-concentration in the Seoul region. Once the foundation has been set for relieving the over-concentration it is the natural next step to form plans for the area's rational development. Overflows of unreasonable demands for development in Seoul, however, must be guarded against.
You already see signs of it. The consultation meeting between the government and ruling party was overwhelmingly a round of demands by Uri Party members from greater Seoul for "new" measures. Those same National Assembly members say they are going to organize and take action on their own. With the ruling party being in such a state you do not even need to mention how the opposition or local governments in the greater Seoul region are going to be reacting.
Seoul is not an area that has been left behind. It has a serious overpopulation problem. That being the case, any plans must take directions different from the provinces. Seoul needs systematic alleviation of the problems caused by over-concentration and overall framework for increasing its international competitiveness, any plans for its development must be made to fit with that. They especially must not be adopted as if to be compensation to politicians or local governments and their demands for development programs.
The demands made by those members of the ruling party number almost a hundred, and include such things as dissolving nature protection areas and luring in h-tech industries. If their ideas are implemented indiscriminately it could actually hurt the balanced national development scheme. The situation is worrisome because it will take five or maybe ten years for the country to enjoy the effects of moving government agencies and corporations to the provinces, and yet it looks as if some are trying to tear down the regulations in greater Seoul as if everything is already concluded.
The Hankyoreh, 28 June 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Beware The Many Demands for Capital Development |
