'National security is not a social media post,' Ahn tells President Lee
People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo on Wednesday criticized the government's plan to relocate key ministries to Sejong, calling it "a reckless attempt to undermine the constitutional and security foundations of the Republic of Korea."
Ahn made the remarks in a Facebook post, saying the Lee Jae Myung government had announced plans to move the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Unification and the Ministry of National Defense to Sejong.
Citing a past Constitutional Court ruling, Ahn argued against the relocations. He noted that in 2005, the Constitutional Court upheld the Special Act on Administrative Cities as constitutional, but only on the premise that the president, the National Assembly and core ministries — including those handling foreign affairs, unification and defense — would remain in Seoul to preserve the country's external symbolic status as a capital. On that basis, the court ruled the move did not constitute a dissolution of capital functions, he said.
"But the Lee Jae Myung government has decided to relocate all of those ministries," Ahn said. "This dismantles the very grounds on which the Constitutional Court based its ruling. It is an unconstitutional transfer of the capital pursued without a constitutional amendment or a national referendum."
Ahn also warned that moving the foreign affairs and security ministries could heighten security concerns by weakening Seoul's legal status as the capital.
"The current South Korea-US defense operational plan is premised on the absolute defense of Seoul — including preemptive strikes to protect it completely," he said. "If the entire diplomatic and security apparatus and its personnel are moved to the rear, it could give North Korea grounds to miscalculate that South Korea might abandon Seoul in a contingency."
Ahn pressed further, asking: "If North Korea were to move Pyongyang's capital functions and security leadership to Sinuiju, would we not draw a similar conclusion?" He called the departure of diplomatic and security functions from Seoul "a dangerous decision that could be interpreted as handing our capital over to our principal adversary, North Korea."
Ahn also called directly on President Lee to reconsider the relocations. "The unconstitutional transfer of the Defense Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Unification must be reconsidered," he said. "A careful review of the Constitutional Court ruling and the military's defense operational plan alone makes it clear this is an act of self-harm."
"I urge the president to bear in mind that national security and constitutional order are not matters to be handled as casually as a click on social media," he added.
raining@heraldcorp.com
