By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

The Constitutional Court on Monday started reviewing the special law on capital relocation immediately after a group filed a petition questioning the constitutionality of the law.

The court designated judge Lee Sang-kyung as presiding justice for the case, which comes just seven days after the government selected the Yongi-Kongju region in South Chungchong Province as preferred site for the new capital.

Challenging the capital relocation project, one of President Roh Moo-hyun’s campaign commitments during the 2002 presidential election, a group of 169 people filed the petition with the Constitutional Court on Monday morning, asking it to decide whether the law is in line with the Constitution.

It also submitted another petition to demand the government suspend the project until the court makes a decision on the special law.

The group, consisting of professors, students, businessmen and 50 members of the Seoul City council, claimed that the capital relocation project has been pushed without a national consensus, thus violating the rights of the people to participate in the decision-making process.

The petition introduces another twist in the controversial plan for the capital move as the main opposition Grand National Party as well as the Seoul municipal authorities and Kyonggi and Kangwon provincial governments are strongly opposed to the project.

``The special law on the capital move infringes on the constitutional rights that the people should be able to enjoy as taxpayers,’’ lawyer Lee Seog-yeon, representative of the petitioners, said.

They also claimed designating a region in South Chungchong Province as a site for the new capital violated the principle of equal rights by discriminating against other regions without specific reasons. It also infringes on Seoul citizens’ freedom of choosing jobs and freedom of residence, they added.

Following the petition with the Constitutional Court, the controversy over the government plan to relocate the nation’s capital is now entering a new phase of legal disputes.

If the court decides in favor of the petition, all work and activities of the Presidential Committee on Administrative Capital Relocation will be completely stopped.

It is uncertain when the court will make a ruling, but on most occasions, decisions are made in one or two months. The Constitutional Court stipulates that any decision should be made within 180 days of a petition’s submission.

In the meantime, the government is pledging to sternly face opposition to the relocation, saying the petition should be dismissed due to its failure to meet certain requirements and improper reasons for filing a Constitutional petition.

``This petition fails to meet the requirement for being submitted to the Constitutional Court as the damage, the reason for filing a petition, should be directly related to the people filing it,’’ Choi Jae-duck, vice-minister of the Construction and Transportation Ministry, said at a media briefing.

``The civic group also claims the government should hold a national referendum on the relocation plan, but it is unclear whether the capital relocation is important enough to be put to a referendum. Moreover according to the law, the decision concerning the possibility of a referendum rests with the president,’’ Choi added.

The government formed a special taskforce team to handle the petition with Choi as its head.

The authority also held the first in a series of planned provincial hearings in Taejon in an effort to publicize the project and explain the advantages of the capital relocation.

``A new administrative capital will be the basis for balanced development in the nation. Seoul metropolitan areas will be relieved of overpopulation while local districts will see dynamic development,’’ Lee Min-won, an official of the government committee for a balanced development, said.


rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr