Sejong City

Sejong
세종시

Special Autonomous City

Sejong Special Autonomous City

transcription(s)

• Hangul

• Hanja

• Revised Romanization

Sejong Teukbyeol-jachisi

• McCune-Reischauer

Sechong T’ŭkpyŏl-chach’isi

Flag

Emblem of Sejong

Map of South Korea with Sejong highlighted

Country

South Korea

Region

Hoseo

Neighbourhood
Town
Townships

2
1
9

Government

• Mayor

Lee Chunhee

Area

• Total

465.23 km² (179.63 sq mi)

Population (May, 2016)

• Total

230,327

• Dialect

Flower

Tree

Bird

Website

Sejong (Hangul: 세종, hanja: 世宗), officially Sejong Special Autonomous City (Hangul: 세종특별자치시, hanja: 世宗特別自治市) and formerly known as Yeongi (연기, 燕岐) County is South Korea's de facto administrative capital city. In early 2007, the South Korean government created a special administrative district from parts of South Chungcheong Province and North Chungcheong Province provinces, near Daejeon, to relocate nine ministries and four national agencies from Seoul. The new capital opened on 2 July 2012, with 36 government agencies slated to move there by 2015.

Sejong was named in honor of the Joseon Dynasty King Sejong the Great, the father of Korea's national alphabet.

The city was originally called Yeongi County (연기, 燕岐).

In 2003, former President Roh Moo-hyun of the Democratic Party (now Minjoo Party of Korea) sought to relocate the national capital of South Korea from the metropolitan city of Seoul to a new multifunctional administrative city in the centre of the country. The goal was to reduce the influence and dominance of Seoul on national governance and economics, whilst promoting the regional development of other areas of the country. According to former Home Administration Minister Maeng Hyung-gyu in 2012, “Sejong is a symbol of the country’s efforts toward more balanced regional development", helping to decongest Seoul and spur investment in the country’s central region.

In October 2004, the Constitutional Court dealt a setback to President Roh's plans, ruling that the capital must remain in Seoul in response to a complaint filed by the main opposition Grand National Party (now Saenuri Party). As such, the Roh administration was forced to modify the project to relocate the majority of ministries and government institutes to Sejong, which would become a special administrative city instead of a new capital. The revised plan was approved by the parliament in March 2005. Challenges to the new plan were rejected by the Constitutional Court in November 2005.

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Wikipedia