South Korea's government sought parliamentary approval Tuesday to develop a new city into a 14.6-billion-dollar science and education hub, scrapping plans to relocate several ministries there.
The bill submitted to the legislature Tuesday faces an uncertain future, with both the main opposition party and a sizeable faction of the conservative ruling Grand National Party (GNP) opposed to it.
In a politically risky move President Lee Myung-Bak's government in January scrapped a plan announced in 2005 by his liberal predecessor Roh Moo-Hyun to move nine ministries and four agencies to Sejong City.
The Lee government said it would be inefficient to split the nation's capital and instead announced plans to develop a science, business and education hub at the city, under construction 150 kilometres (95 miles) south of Seoul.