Sejong Mayor Cho Sang-ho has identified "completing the administrative capital" as the top priority of his administration in the fifth popularly elected term. His vision goes beyond relocating the National Assembly's Sejong chamber and the presidential secondary office, aiming to complete the administrative capital legally and institutionally, and through this, create a new turning point for balanced national development. He also plans to concentrate his administration's capacity on establishing an institutional foundation to support the functions of the administrative capital within his term, by pushing forward both the enactment of a special act and the expansion of the fiscal base.
In an interview with the Seoul Economic Daily on the 2nd, Cho said, "Although the relocation of the National Assembly's Sejong chamber and the presidential secondary office has been confirmed, the administrative capital has not yet been completed through law and institutions." He added, "I will broaden the national consensus that Sejong as the administrative capital is not an agenda for a specific region, but an essential task for balanced national growth."
Reflecting this determination, Cho set the slogan of his fifth-term administration as "Center of Balanced National Growth, Administrative Capital Sejong." His vision is to make completing the administrative capital within his term the top priority of his administration and to concentrate administrative power on establishing an institutional foundation, including the enactment of a special act.
Cho cited the enactment of the "Administrative Capital Special Act" as the key task for completing the administrative capital. He judged that although the National Assembly and presidential office functions were partially relocated after the Constitutional Court's 2004 ruling that the new administrative capital was unconstitutional, the legal status remains unstable, and therefore the status of the administrative capital must first be established through a special act.
"Specifying the administrative capital in the constitution is the most desirable, but constitutional amendment is a task that requires national consensus and time," he explained. "For now, we will build the legal foundation of the administrative capital through the enactment of a special act, and in the long term, we will work to specify the administrative capital Sejong in the constitution through constitutional amendment."
He also plans to devote efforts to spreading a nationwide consensus for the passage of the Administrative Capital Special Act within the year. "We are continuously consulting to secure the consensus of the 16 metropolitan and provincial governors, and recently I met with heads of institutions in the Chungcheong region to ask them to join forces for the enactment of the special act," Cho said. "We will form a nationwide countermeasure committee to urge the National Assembly's review of the bill, and gather broad public opinion through debate forums and other means."
The Sejong City Council is also lending its support to completing the administrative capital. The council recently enacted its first ordinance, the "Ordinance on the Establishment and Operation of the Administrative Capital Completion Promotion Committee," beginning to institutionally support the enactment of the special act and the completion of the administrative capital.
Expanding the fiscal base is also an urgent task to stably carry out the administrative capital functions. Cho argued that since the current ordinary grant system does not reflect the special nature of Sejong, which has a single-tier system, a fixed-rate system like Jeju's should be introduced through revision of the Sejong City Act. "There are limits to a local government single-handedly bearing the administrative capital functions created by the state," he said. "As local fiscal conditions are worsening due to the decline in acquisition tax, I will definitely push through a fixed rate of 1% of the total ordinary grant."
Along with completing the outer form of the administrative capital, building an economic city with self-sufficient functions is another axis Cho has put forward. Based on his experience as economic vice mayor, his vision is to firmly solidify Sejong's growth foundation by fostering corporate investment and future industries centered on the smart national industrial complex.
"The smart national industrial complex was a pledge I personally reflected during President Moon Jae-in's candidacy, but it has not gained momentum over the past 10 years," Cho said. "As land compensation has begun in earnest recently and the project is gaining momentum, we will create synergy with other industrial complexes through attracting large corporations and build a self-sufficient economic ecosystem," he expressed his expectations.
Investment attraction is also gaining pace. Since taking office, he expanded the existing 350 billion won investment agreement with Aseong Daiso to 550 billion won, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics announced a plan to invest 8 trillion won as one of its three megaprojects to expand production facilities. Cho expects Sejong's industrial competitiveness to take a leap forward through this.
"Samsung Electro-Mechanics' investment, the largest for a single project since Sejong City's launch in 2012, is a symbolic case demonstrating Sejong's growth potential," he said emphatically. "By providing the infrastructure needed for corporate activities, such as sites, power and water, without a hitch, we will create an economic city where attracting companies, fostering industries, and creating quality jobs form a virtuous cycle."
To this end, he plans to create three innovation clusters connecting the smart national industrial complex, the Jiphyeon-dong Tech Valley, and the Digital Media Complex, and to intensively foster five strategic industries including semiconductor materials, parts and equipment, bio, artificial intelligence (AI), knowledge services, and media content.
Cho cited "citizens" as the keyword running through his fifth-term administration. He explained that completing the administrative capital and expanding the industrial base are ultimately processes to change citizens' lives. "I have adopted 'simin yeosang (視民如傷),' which means to care for citizens' lives as one would tend to one's own wounds, as my administrative philosophy," he said. "Even if citizens do not remember the name of the fifth Sejong mayor, if they remember that 'that was Sejong's golden age,' that is enough. I will always breathe together with citizens and build Sejong's future," he pledged.
He is… △Born in Seoul in 1970 △Bachelor's degree in public administration from Konkuk University △Master's degree in political science and diplomacy from Korea University Graduate School △Completed doctoral coursework in political science and diplomacy at Korea University Graduate School △Economic Vice Mayor of Sejong Special Self-Governing City △Vice President of the Democratic Research Institute △Deputy Chair of the Democratic Party's Special Committee on Balanced National Growth △Fifth popularly elected Mayor of Sejong Special Self-Governing City
