Capital City
Overview
A capital city (Korean: sudo; 首都) is the city where a nation's central government and highest governing institutions are located. Going beyond simply being the site where government buildings are located, it is a symbolic space in which the country's political, administrative, diplomatic, economic, and cultural core functions are concentrated. Depending on the country, it may be explicitly stipulated by constitution or law, or it may function as a de facto capital according to historical custom. A capital is a symbol of national unity and, externally, an entity akin to the face that represents the state.
Main Content
Functions of a Capital
First, a capital is a political center in which the three branches of government—legislative, judicial, and executive—are concentrated. The presidential residence, the legislature, the supreme court, and central ministries are clustered together, and national policy is decided and executed there. Second, it is a stage for diplomacy. Embassies of various countries are stationed there, and summit meetings and international conferences are held there. Third, it often also serves as an economic and cultural hub. However, there are also not a few countries in which the economic center and the political center are separated.
Methods of Designating a Capital
A capital is determined in three main ways. First is the method of specifying it in the constitution, with South Korea (Seoul) and France (Paris) as representative examples. Second is the method of determining it by separate legislation. Third is the case in which it has become established by custom without any explicit provision, as in cases such as Washington, D.C. in the United States or London in the United Kingdom, which took root over a long history.
Multiple Capitals and Special Cases
A single country may have several capitals divided by function. South Africa distributed the three branches of government among Pretoria as the administrative capital, Cape Town as the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein as the judicial capital. In the Netherlands, the constitutional capital is Amsterdam, but the government and parliament are located in The Hague. Israel declared Jerusalem its capital, but controversy continues over the issue of recognition by the international community, and Palestine claims East Jerusalem as its capital.
Cases of Capital Relocation
Historically, there are many cases in which a capital has been moved. Brazil moved its capital from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília in the interior in 1960 in order to promote balanced national development. Kazakhstan relocated its capital from Almaty to Astana (present-day Nursultan) in 1997. Egypt has been constructing a new administrative capital east of Cairo since the 2020s. Indonesia is likewise carrying out a project to relocate its capital to Nusantara on the island of Borneo in order to resolve Jakarta's flooding and overcrowding problems.
Discussions on South Korea's Capital
South Korea's constitution has no explicit provision concerning the capital, but the Constitutional Court's 2004 decision confirmed that Seoul is the capital under customary constitutional law. The relocation of the administrative capital promoted during the Roh Moo-hyun administration fell through due to a decision that the Special Act on the New Administrative Capital was unconstitutional, and afterward it was compromised in the form of some central administrative agencies relocating to Sejong Special Self-Governing City.
Latest Trends
As of 2024–2025, discussions surrounding capitals are moving along two axes: the climate crisis and population dispersion. Indonesia has been pushing forward in earnest with the relocation to Nusantara and held its 2024 Independence Day ceremony in the new capital, while Jakarta is reorganizing its special legal framework to respond to land subsidence and flooding. In Egypt, the relocation of government ministries to the new administrative capital is proceeding in stages. In South Korea, discussions on completing the administrative capital centering on Sejong City and discourse on balanced development continue, and with Seoul's population decline intertwined with the problem of local extinction, reconsideration of "concentration in the capital region" is active. In addition, the spread of remote work and the transition to digital administration are posing the fundamental question of whether a capital must necessarily be a physically dense space.
Related Topics
- [[서울특별시|Seoul]]
- [[세종특별자치시|Sejong Special Self-Governing City]]
- [[행정수도 이전|Relocation of the Administrative Capital]]
- [[헌법재판소|Constitutional Court]]
- [[수도권|Capital Region]]
- [[균형발전|Balanced Development]]