Tak Hyun-min on Yoon's 'Office Relocation': "If the Blue House Won't Be Used, Can't We Just Use It?"

Yoon's Side: "Significant Time to Move from Office to Secretary's Building"... Tak Hyun-min: "If Running, 30 Seconds"

Tak Hyun-min, Protocol Secretary at the Blue House. [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] As President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol is considering relocating the presidential office to the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan, Seoul, on the 17th, Tak Hyun-min, the Blue House Protocol Secretary, said, "If they are not going to use it here, I want to ask if we can just use it."

Tak Secretary said in a post on Facebook that day, "I will gather with good people and manage it well..."

He pointed out, "Personally, I have no opinion on the president-elect's move from the Blue House," adding, "However, it is a waste of the hundreds of millions of won worth of various facilities that have already been installed, operated, and reinforced."

"What about the numerous histories since liberation, and the dignity of various state guest events?"

He continued, "The gardener who has worked since President Roh Tae-woo's era, the cafeteria staff who always prepared warm meals, and Mr. Amugae, the facility manager who orally shared countless stories not even found in books, will all be missed," he added.

Also, Tak Secretary said, "The reason the Blue House is a space that people are interested in and want to visit is because the president is there," adding, "When Jeodo was returned before, there was a lot of interest, but eventually, the interest faded, and it became a space that few people visited."

Jeodo in Geoje City, Gyeongnam, is a small island with a presidential villa, used as the president's summer retreat since 1954. Later, President Moon Jae-in promised its return, and it was opened to the public in September 2019.

Meanwhile, Tak Secretary said, "When Japan turned Changgyeonggung Palace into a zoo, they said they would return it to the 'subjects'." This metaphorically compares President-elect Yoon to the Japanese Resident-General in 1909 and the people to subjects under a monarchy.

President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol is moving from his Tongui-dong office to a restaurant for lunch on the afternoon of the 17th, accompanied by Kim Han-gil, Chairman of the National Unity Committee, Jang Je-won, Chief of Staff for the President-elect, and Kim Eun-hye, spokesperson.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

In another post, he also refuted the claim that one of the reasons for relocating the presidential office was that "the distance between the presidential office and the secretary building within the Blue House is far."

Earlier, spokesperson Kim Eun-hye emphasized the need for relocation during a briefing, saying, "The current Blue House structure is more focused on the president than the people. It takes considerable time to go from the secretary building to the presidential office. It was disconnected from communication with citizens and isolated. Ultimately, it prioritized presidential protection above all."

In response, Tak Secretary said, "It has been five years since the presidential office was moved to the secretary building," adding, "I just checked the travel time between the office and the secretary building; if you run, it takes 30 seconds, and if you walk, 57 seconds, which is quite a short time."

Meanwhile, the president-elect's side is actively considering relocating the presidential office from the current Blue House to the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan. The Government Seoul Office in Gwanghwamun and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building are also being mentioned as candidate sites.