More than half of Koreans are not convinced the proposed relocation of the country’s administrative capital from Seoul to Sejong would help stabilize the overheated real estate market, a poll showed Monday.

In a Realmeter survey of 500 adults nationwide, 54.5 percent replied they do not agree that the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s idea of moving major government offices to Sejong, about 120 kilometers south of Seoul, would serve as a solution to soaring property prices in Seoul and its surrounding area.

A total of 40.6 percent thought positively of it.

Many of those who expressed disagreement with the idea were from Seoul and nearby cities, the survey showed.

Faced with mounting public fury for a failure to stabilize property prices in Seoul, the government and the ruling party have introduced 22 sets of measures. Talk of capital relocation surfaced in the ruling faction, amid widespread criticism that the current Moon Jae-in administration’s measure to curb real estate speculation is a total fiasco.

Opposition lawmakers oppose the relocation plan, viewing it as nothing but a tactic to divert public discontent over the administration’s continued failure to stabilize home prices, particularly in the Greater Seoul area.

While many aren’t convinced the relocation plan could help solve real estate issues, an earlier poll showed that many are in support of the administrative capital relocation plan itself.

According to a Realmeter poll last week of 500 adults, 53.9 percent said they support the capital move push, while 34.3 percent disapproved of it.

Capital relocation is an unfinished legacy of late liberal President Roh Moo-hyun, who pushed for the move in 2002 to achieve a more balanced regional development and ease overcrowding in Seoul.

By Ko Jun-tae (ko.juntae@heraldcorp.com)