By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter


The Constitutional Court said Tuesday it would announce its ruling Thursday on the petition against the special law enabling the Roh Moo-hyun government to push for the relocation of the administrative capital from Seoul to the Yongi-Kongju region in South Chungchong Province.

The court’s nine-member panel, led by president Yoon Young-chul, has reviewed the case for the past two months since 169 citizens filed the petition in July asking the highest court to determine whether the special law and the process of its making was constitutionally acceptable.

The ruling, scheduled for 2 p.m., will bring the legal controversy over the relocation plan to an end, but may spark a fierce political debate with opponents set to hold massive rallies against the relocation.

The citizens said in the petition the government should have held a national plebiscite for the move of the national capital, but it skipped the procedure in violation of the Constitution.

Political parties as well as local governments have been keenly divided over the relocation. Seoul City Mayor Lee Myung-bak, a potential presidential candidate for the opposition Grand National Party (GNP), has carried the banner for struggle against the government move, to which polls show a majority of the public is opposed.

During a parliamentary inspection of the city government on Monday, Lee said he respects the court, but wouldn’t follow its ruling on the capital transfer, a move viewed as an indication that he would continue to raise attacks on the Roh administration regardless of the ruling.

The National Assembly, then controlled by the GNP, passed the relocation bill late last year, but it drew little attention amid political turmoil concerning the Assembly’s move to impeach President Roh. Critics have argued the capital relocation plan was politically motivated as the Roh administration sought to woo support from the Chungchong provinces ahead of the general elections in April.

In its written opinions submitted to the court, Seoul City claimed the relocation plan violates the Constitution and parliamentary laws because the decision was made without a national consensus.

Conversely, the central government and the Presidential Committee on Administrative Capital Relocation had demanded the court drop the petition.

jj@koreatimes.co.kr