YONGI-KONGJU is a picturesque area by any standard but, in the eyes of Lhee Dae Woo, it is also a land of invisible energy and spiritual riches. The hills on its perimeter are more than just a pleasant weekend hike — they represent a white tiger and a coiled blue dragon. The nearby Silk River is not only a place for fishing — its winding course describes a magical crane flying through the heavens with an egg under its wing.
For Mr Lhee is a geomancer, an adept of the ancient oriental philosophy of feng shui. By divining the invisible lines of energy which run across the landscape, experts such as Mr Lhee advise on the design and position of new buildings and the best arrangement of rooms.
And in Yongi-Kongju, they face their biggest and most important project ever. If all goes to plan, over the next quarter of a century this quiet farming area will be transformed. Multiple bridges will span the Silk River; the green paddy fields will sprout high-rise offices and government ministries; and half a million people will live here.
For the Yongi-Kongju area is to be the location of one of the most ambitious national projects of the 21st century — the removal of South Korea’s administrative capital from its present location in Seoul.
The moving of the capital, which was formally announced last month, has already provoked bitter controversy. Opponents of the plan, the personal project of President Roh, insist that it is a wasteful folly perpetrated for the most cynical political motives.
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Its supporters, including Mr Lhee, regard it as an essential remedy to Seoul’s chronic overcrowding.
Since the idea was first floated 25 years ago, 400 geomancers have been consulted to find the ideal location for the new capital and for its most important building, the presidential palace or Blue House.
Now that the plan has been given the go-ahead at an estimated cost of 45.6 trillion won (£22.4 billion) 30 square miles of land has been earmarked in the Yongi-Kongju area. Construction is scheduled to start in 2008 and to be completed in 2012 when 80 government ministries and agencies will make the 100-mile move south from Seoul.
You don’t have to be a geomancer to see good reasons for all this.
Apart from being traffic-congested, crowded and haphazardly laid out, Seoul dominates South Korea like few other capitals in the world. Almost half of the country’s 48 million people live in the greater Seoul area and virtually all the country’s central government functions are concentrated there.
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To add to the problems, Seoul is strategically vulnerable: just 20 miles to the north, across a fortified border, is communist North Korea, where tens of thousand of artillery pieces are poised to rain down missiles on the city in the event of war.
The relocation proposal was a plank of President Roh’s successful election in 2002, and laws permitting it were passed in the National Assembly last year. Polls show that 47 per cent of Koreans like the idea, although more than 50 per cent are against it.
“We will fight the relocation to the death!” promises a graffito on a wall in the Yongi-Kongju countryside. Understandably, people here are divided between those who welcome the economic benefits which it would bring to the area, and those who resist the compulsory purchase of their farms and homes.
Seoul people, too, are naturally opposed. Their city has been the capital since South Korea was created by the division of the country after the Second World War. For more than five centuries before that Seoul was the capital of the whole of Korea.
Foreign diplomats have little enthusiasm for an expensive and troublesome relocation from Seoul to a brand-new city two hours’ drive away.
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And however much Koreans complain about the capital’s inconveniences, few relish abandoning its many attractions. Its nightlife, entertainment, museums and galleries, schools and universities make it far and away the most diverse and exciting city in the country.
Groups opposed to the relocation have set up websites and lodged a legal appeal with the Constitutional Court. Having supported the legislation when it was first passed, the opposition Grand National Party now opposes it.
The party accuses President Roh of using the issue as a ploy to win over the five million voters of Chungcheong, the province which contains the new site and which will absorb the billions which come with it. Conservative by inclination, they are also key swing voters and in the presidential election they came out in favour of Mr Roh.
Everyone agrees that Seoul is becoming unmanageable. But it is argued that £22.4 billion could be better spent on salvaging it with improved public transport and measures to discourage cars and reduce pollution.
“Seoul is bloated, like an animal which has eaten too much, and it is very vulnerable to attack,” says Mr Lhee. “Such a state is very bad for the health of any creature. It is urgently necessary to change this situation.”
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