Ruling camp refuses to back down on Sejong

Despite a parliamentary panel rejection and escalating public criticism, Lee Myung-bak does not appear ready to give up on his bid to kill a former government-led plan to relocate part of the administration out of Seoul. 

In a meeting with high-ranking government officials and ruling party leaders Wednesday, Prime Minister Chung Un-chan asked the National Assembly to bring the controversial bills related to revising the Sejong City project up again for a full-house vote, claiming “such a historic issue” deserves attention from all legislators. 

The 31-member Assembly committee on land and maritime affairs voted down the bills Tuesday, thwarting Lee’s determination to overthrow his predecessor’s project that aimed to develop a second administrative city in the long-underdeveloped Chungcheong region.

First sought by the administration of Roh Moo-hyun in 2005, the project -- named after the creator of the Korean alphabet -- is widely popular among residents of the province as well as progressive political forces who support balanced regional development. 

Prime Minister Chung Un-chan (third from left) and other Cabinet members attend a meeting with ruling party leaders Wednesday. Yonhap News