SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s new president said Sunday he will leave the mountainside Blue House presidential palace and set up his office on the Defense Ministry compound in downtown Seoul to better communicate with the public.
The plan drew immediate backlash from critics of the resettlement plan, who warned that the hasty relocation of top government offices would undermine South Korea’s national security, impose excessive spending, and violate the property rights of residents in the new presidential office area.
The relocation of the president’s office was one of the main campaign promises of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol. The conservative former chief prosecutor, whose only five-year term begins May 10, said the location and design of the Blue House has drawn criticism that South Korean leaders are cut off from the public and wield excessive power.
On the grounds of the Blue House, the offices of presidential advisers and the press center are not in the same building where the president works, but hundreds of meters (yards) apart. Some former officials said they sometimes went to see the president on bicycles or cars.
Yoon said at a televised press conference on Sunday that he chose the Defense Department complex because it is already equipped with security-related controls. He said his team shut down other sites because of the inconvenience caused by the presidential security service.
Yoon said he would start his term in the new office. He said Defense Department officials will be moved to the Joint Chiefs of Staff building on the compound, and JCS personnel will be moved in stages to the military command center on the outskirts of Seoul.
Yoon said that a huge public park will be laid out next to the president’s new office so that ordinary citizens can view his office from up close. He said he also plans to set up a press center and meet with journalists frequently.
According to Yoon’s plans, the current Blue House will be opened to the public as a park on the day of his inauguration. He said he would gather public opinion to decide on the name of the new office.
Critics of Yun’s plan urged him to take his time with the move, saying other issues such as the rising number of COVID-19 cases, North Korea’s nuclear threat and various economic issues require more urgent attention.
Yoon Ho-jun, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, South Korea’s largest political party, said the move would create a “big national security hole” amid threats from North Korea over the hasty move of key Defense Ministry facilities. difficult. He said some Seoul residents are also likely to suffer “tremendous damage” to their property rights due to expected government restrictions on development in areas near the new office.
“Is it appropriate to unilaterally insist on moving the Blue House and the Department of Defense, on which national security and property rights of citizens will depend, without asking public opinion?” Yun said. He urged the president-elect to cancel the move.
A group of 11 former heads of the Joint Chiefs of Staff delivered a statement against relocation to Yoon’s transition team. They said this would allow the enemy to strike at the presidential office and military headquarters at the same time, South Korean media reported.
Outgoing Liberal President Moon Jae-in, a member of the Democratic Party, previously also promised to leave the Blue House, but canceled plans after he could not find a new office space.
Yoon said he was aware of the concerns, but said that if he began his term at the Blue House, which critics called “a symbol of imperial power,” it would be harder for him to move out.
“I know that moving the presidential office is not easy. But if I go back on my promise to the people (to move), no other future president will try to do that,” Yoon said. “I made this decision for the future of the country.”
Yoon said the move would cost around 50 billion won ($41 million). Some critics had previously stated that it would cost up to 1 trillion won ($825 million), with Yoon calling the estimate “groundless”.