[THE INVESTOR] Following the thwarted airport plan that left the southeast region in feuds, political parties promptly shifted their focus to the central administrative city of Sejong, seeking momentum there and in its surrounding Cheungcheong provinces.

But their ambitious scenario, involving a partial relocation of the legislative branch and possibly moving the presidential office, rekindled concerns that these rosy promises may once again dwindle away to become mere stunt pledges ahead of key elections.

“If we revise the Constitutional Law, it will be possible to relocate not only the National Assembly but also Cheong Wa Dae to Sejong City,” said Sejong Mayor Lee Choon-hee on Thursday.

“Sejong City was initially designed not just as an administrative city but as the nation’s administrative capital and we plan to achieve that long-term goal one day.”

The opposition-affiliated mayor thereby buttressed recently growing calls from Sejong-based lawmakers -- especially his fellow members of The Minjoo Party of Korea -- to build a regional parliamentary branch there.

Steering the move is seventh-termer and former Prime Minister Rep. Lee Hae-chan who defected from the party in the run-up to the April 13 general election and won his legislative seat for Sejong City as an independent candidate.

The senior lawmaker on Monday motioned a revision bill of the National Assembly Act, including the establishment of a legislative branch in the administrative city. The bill was backed by 38 parliamentary members, mostly those based in nearby Daejeon or the surrounding Chungcheong provinces.

The establishment of the regional branch, involving the relocation of some 10 parliamentary committees and 100 representative offices, will cost about 107 billion won ($93 million), according to the National Assembly Budget Office.

After meeting with parliamentary Speaker Chung Sye-kyun, who has temporarily exited the Minjoo Party due to his post, Rep. Lee claimed that Chung had “promised to look into the matter on a parliamentary level,” raising hopes for the plan.

The reason that the political circles have advocated a “partial” relocation of the Assembly traces back to the Constitutional Court ruling back in 2004 which, citing basic law, said that the nation’s core symbolic functions should remain in the capital city.

Nam Kyung-pil and An Hee-jung, governors of Gyeonggi Province and South Chungcheong Province respectively, took the agenda a step further by claiming that the relocation plan to Sejong should include Cheong Wa Dae as well.

“The Republic of Korea is suffering from the side effects of having all of its political and economic powers concentrated (in Seoul),” said Nam, calling for constitutional revision.

An also pledged in a press briefing on Wednesday to “join efforts with Gov. Nam” in nurturing Sejong City into an administrative capital city and to achieve balanced regional growth.

But their blueprint also resembled preceding election pledges involving large-scale infrastructure made by former and incumbent conservative presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, who both had pledged to build an international airport in the southeastern part of the country. The multi-trillion won state project had helped gather a considerable number of votes from expectant local voters, but years of talks have gone down the drain, as the government has crossed out both of the rival candidate cities.

The idea of creating Sejong City was initiated under the late President Roh Moo-hyun back in 2002 as part of efforts to relieve the overcrowding metropolitan cluster.

The plan, however, was often used as a political strategy to appeal to Chungcheong voters, who have often acted as the largest swing voter pool in national elections.

The recent rise of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as the next presidential hopeful has also brought the Cheungcheong region to public attention. The former diplomat, who hinted at his bid in the 2017 presidential election, was born in Eumseong, North Chungcheong Province.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)