By Shim Jae-yun
Korea Times Correspondent

ASTANA - Despite a lack of media coverage of the issue, South Korea and Kazakhstan share similar circumstances on a very significant national project _ the relocation of their administrative capitals.

Astana and Seoul both mean ``capital’’ in their countries’ languages. But though Kazakhstan has moved its administration to the new city of Astana, South Korea is going the other way.

From 1998, Kazakhstan began the relocation of its capital from Almaty to Astana, located at the center of the nation, with the ambition of creating a new base for national development.

For Kazakhstan, it was a struggle to overcome the hangover left by the former Soviet Union, which lasted until 1991.

In contrast to the Korean situation, where the government plan has been loudly protested by opponents, however, Kazakhstan saw no fierce disagreement to the move.

``We managed to handle the matter smoothly without particular opposition from the beginning,’’ said Beisgembayev Askhat, a student majoring in international politics at Eurassian National University of Kazakhstan.

He added there was some resistance from Almaty people in the initial stages due to possible losses as citizens of the former capital but such repercussions were only minor and quickly subsided, helped by active public relations campaigns and appeals from the central government.

The 2030 Project by the Kazakh government features various ambitious measures designed to complete the initial relocation of the capital city on schedule.

``I am certain we will be able to see high economic growth in the near future thanks to the government-initiated program, including the capital relocation,’’ another university student, Vitaley Lee, said proudly.

Kazakhstan’s capital move seems to have gone ahead, mainly due to strong leadership from the government and voluntary participation by the people at large, although some may criticize the government for pushing the issue too hard.

For Roh, the Kazakh case may be interesting as he has been suffering growing opposition but has declined to mobilize the government to force the case for capital shift and quiet opponents.

Despite the apparent success of Astana, however, there seem to be many factors yet to be overcome.

The population in the new capital hovers around only 200,000 and infrastructure like roads and high-rise office buildings and hotels are rare.

For instance, only a handful of foreign missions have been moved to the new capital, with most of them, including the U.S. embassy, remaining in Almaty.

Kazakh officials cited security problems in Astana as part of the reason leading to the relatively slow acceptance of the capital and acknowledged Almaty still remains the nation’s hub of economic activities.

In South Korea, embassies are lukewarm about moving too and there is no question the city will remain the financial and cultural hub in much the same way Almaty retains that role in Kazakhstan.

In addition to this, what matters will be the diehard opposition coupled with the Roh government’s failure to cope with the national division over the issue.

Given this, some officials stress the need to follow Kazakhstan in attempts to get the people to support one national goal through dialogue and patient explanation.

If Roh’s 2002 election campaign promise is kept, work will start in 2007 on the as yet nameless new capital in rural Yongi county, 100 kilometers south of Seoul.

jayshim@koreatimes.co.kr