South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Friday said that he will not call a national referendum on relocation of the administrative capital out of Seoul, the nation's news agency Yonhap reported.

At a press conference, Roh said he made the election campaign pledge to call a vote but "the changes in political situations thereafter made it unnecessary for me to implement the campaign pledge."

Just days before the presidential election in December 2002, Roh stated that he will "muster national consensus through a national referendum within a year after his election before making a final decision on the capital relocation issue."

In late December, the nation's legislature passed a special law on capital relocation.

On Tuesday, it unveiled four candidate sites for its new administrative capital: the Eumseong-Jincheon area in North Chungcheong Province and Cheonan, the Yeongi-Gongju region and the Gongju-Nonsan area in South Chungcheong Province, all located in the central part of the country.

South Koreans are split over capital relocation, which Roh said would help decentralize the Seoul metropolitan area and promote more balanced regional development.