Seolhun "Yoon's Blue House Relocation? ... Hasty and Uncommunicative"

"The Issue of Moving the Cheongwadae Must Be Discussed with the People"

Seol Hoon, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Kang Wooseok Intern Reporter] On the 21st, Seol Hoon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol's plan to relocate the presidential office to Yongsan, calling it "hasty, violent, and uncommunicative," and stated that "physically, it is impossible (to relocate before the inauguration)."

Seol appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' that day and said, "The relocation of the presidential office is incomprehensible. If the Ministry of National Defense is completely moved, not only time but also costs will be enormous, and chaos will occur. Saying that it will be moved on May 10th is unreasonable."

He added, "President-elect Yoon said that space governs consciousness, but I want to say that if a wrong belief governs consciousness, misfortune will come. The president can work in the Blue House and then move later. Physically, it is impossible (to relocate before the inauguration), so the president should work in the Blue House for a year and proceed with the plan during that time."

He continued, "Yongsan is also not suitable geographically. Currently, the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are located there, along with all their subordinate units. These units have important facilities there," and added, "These facilities need to be newly built, and besides the cost, thousands of personnel have to relocate their residences, so this cannot be done hastily."

Regarding President-elect Yoon's plan to create a space for communication with the public through the Yongsan office, he said, "Yongsan Ministry of National Defense is a military facility, so civilian access is strictly controlled," and added, "Just because the president comes, will the control be lifted? Controls will have to be strengthened. Therefore, it cannot be realized as the president envisions in the conceptual drawings."

In response to the claim by President-elect Yoon's side that the relocation will cost 49.6 billion won, he countered, "It could cost an additional 1 trillion won," explaining, "Moving the Blue House, the Ministry of National Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and all subordinate units will cause a chain reaction each time. If the Joint Chiefs of Staff move, the units in that area must move elsewhere. Because of these ripple effects, it could cost more than 1 trillion won."

Seol said, "They say the relocation is with communication with the public in mind, but there is no other explanation," and criticized, "While communication is the purpose, it is going in the exact opposite direction, 100% perfect non-communication. At the very least, the issue of moving the Blue House should be discussed with the public."