President Lee calls for second presidential office, National Assembly building in Sejong
Published: 16 Sep. 2025, 18:31
Updated: 16 Sep. 2025, 18:38
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- SARAH KIM
- [email protected]
![President Lee Jae Myung, third from left, presides over a Cabinet meeting at the government complex in Sejong for the first time on Sept. 16. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/09/16/a31e7703-66cd-49f5-9c39-696f8a0b0caf.jpg)
President Lee Jae Myung, third from left, presides over a Cabinet meeting at the government complex in Sejong for the first time on Sept. 16. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
"For Korea's sustainable growth and development, balanced national development is no longer a matter of choice but our destiny," Lee said as he presided over a Cabinet meeting at the Sejong government complex for the first time. "The completion of Sejong as the administrative capital is a cornerstone of balanced development."
Lee noted that "Korea's greatest challenge today is sustainable growth," noting that "if we continue down this path, the metropolitan area will collapse and provinces will disappear."
He pledged to "proceed without delay" on constructing both the Sejong presidential office and the Sejong National Assembly building as a part of his administration's decentralization efforts, in keeping with his presidential campaign pledge.
Lee underscored his government's strategy focused on moving away from concentration in the capital area by developing five key regional growth hubs, while designating Gangwon, North Jeolla and Jeju as special self-governing provinces.
Lee vowed to accelerate the implementation of the "five mega hubs and three special zones" strategy, saying that all regions are entitled to "equally enjoy opportunities for progress."
"In the past, due to a shortage of resources and opportunity, the country concentrated its scarce resources in a single location, adopting an unbalanced growth strategy concentrated in the metropolitan area," Lee said, adding that while this strategy was efficient at one point, "it is now reaching its limits."
Lee further pledged to work on building regional growth hubs with tailored strategies for each area, including the growing the AI sector.
![President Lee Jae Myung, center, prunes a peach tree before meeting with young farmers at a farm in Jeondong-myeon, Sejong, South Chungcheong, on Sept. 16. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/09/16/bf33088e-c08c-40af-888c-17deb6c41e15.jpg)
President Lee Jae Myung, center, prunes a peach tree before meeting with young farmers at a farm in Jeondong-myeon, Sejong, South Chungcheong, on Sept. 16. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
He said that expanding youth employment also goes hand in hand with strengthening the country's future growth engines, making a "special request" for companies to address this challenge.
"Solving the youth employment problem requires not only government effort, but also the commitment of businesses," Lee said. "Our government is doing its best to support businesses so they can operate smoothly. Just as we are working together under the spirit of 'Team Korea' to overcome trade challenges, I ask that companies also join us in tackling the next challenge, that of youth unemployment."
He underscored that it is "essential" to create jobs for young people, calling for "a new path for economic growth" on which young people, businesses and the nation can "win together."
Lee designated this week as "Youth Week" in an attempt to set longer-term plans to address the worries and plight of young people.
During the Cabinet meeting, Lee also told Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plays a vital role in encouraging companies to relocate to regional areas. Lee urged the government to offer incentives for companies to relocate to regional areas, in the form of tax incentives, electricity rate subsidies or cheaper land.
The Lee administration likewise has prioritized constitutional reform to strengthen presidential responsibility and decentralize authority as a major policy task to achieve during the president's five-year term.
Lee received a briefing on his administration's finalized 123 national policy tasks, which covered agendas such as presidential responsibility, decentralizing authority, a consecutive four-year presidential term, a runoff election system, limiting the presidential veto power, prosecutorial reform and strengthening the National Assembly's control over emergency decrees and martial law declarations.The Cabinet also approved of a defense policy direction aiming for the transfer of wartime operational control, or Opcon, within his term.
"I will use the 123 national tasks as a compass embodying the will of the sovereign people to transform lives and make Korea a globally leading country," Lee said, adding he will continue to review, supplement and implement the policy roadmap.
![President Lee Jae Myung, center, takes a selfie with farmers in Jeondong-myeon in Sejong on Sept. 16. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/09/16/9c7e8fbd-ecbb-49dd-8ca6-7dc0392cc066.jpg)
President Lee Jae Myung, center, takes a selfie with farmers in Jeondong-myeon in Sejong on Sept. 16. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
Lee, who marked 100 days in office last Thursday, a time seemingly dominated by tense tariff negotiations with the United States and overcoming the leadership vacuum following his predecessor's imposition of martial law, is now focusing on reform measures and economic growth.
After the Cabinet meeting, Lee visited the Sejong government complex cafeteria for lunch and ate stir-fried pork and kimchi stew with government officials there.
He later visited young farmers in Jeondong-myeon, Sejong, to offer words of encouragement and listen to their concerns.
"Without agricultural self-sufficiency, we could face a serious national crisis during a time of need," Lee told the group of farmers. "Agriculture is a security industry and a strategic industry that we must safeguard."
BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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