Democratic Party Rep. Kim Byung-joo: "Yongsan Office Relocation Costs Over 1 Trillion Won... Ministry of National Defense in Panic"

Kim Byung-joo, Democratic Party Member of the National Defense Committee
"Don't Take the Yongsan Relocation Issue Too Lightly"

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Kim Byung-joo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated that the issue of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol moving his office to the Yongsan Ministry of National Defense building will cost "more than 1 trillion won." He explained that relocating about 10 units within the Ministry of National Defense, along with the resulting chain reactions and the establishment of a state-of-the-art security and protection system, will require substantial expenses.

Kim, who previously served as the Deputy Commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, appeared on TBS Traffic Broadcasting's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' on the 18th and commented on the Yoon transition team's estimate of 50 billion won for the office relocation costs. He said, "The 50 billion won is probably for remodeling costs related to moving the Blue House office," adding, "There are about 10 units inside the Ministry of National Defense (including the Ministry of National Defense itself, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Cyber Command, Facilities Headquarters, Prosecutor's Office, Psychological Warfare Unit, etc.), and relocating them alone will cost more than 1 trillion won."

He continued, "The underground bunker of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was built to withstand EMP bombs at a cost of over 100 billion won," and "Constructing the Joint Chiefs of Staff building alone cost around 200 to 300 billion won, and building the Ministry of National Defense building cost about 200 billion won, so building the buildings alone costs about 1 trillion won." He added, "The surrounding area needs to be turned into a Patriot missile base, whether at Namsan or Hyochang Park, and if you consider all of that, it will cost at least 1 trillion won, but this has not been anticipated."

Kim pointed out, "Without any countermeasures, they are being told to vacate by the end of March, so there is a lot of unrest inside the Ministry of National Defense," and "Moreover, the Ministry of National Defense moves to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Joint Chiefs of Staff moves to subordinate units, causing a chain reaction that even affects the Nonsan Defense University." He criticized, "This is essentially an abuse of power that induces a chain of abuses."