Yoon's 'Office Relocation' Announcement... Kim Eo-jun: "Who Asked for the Blue House Back?"

"Yoon's Announcement, Not a Single Line Understood from Start to Finish"
"Ordering the Defense Ministry to Vacate in Just a Few Days... An Unprecedented Case of Domination"

TBS Radio 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' host Kim Eo-jun / Photo by TBS YouTube broadcast capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] Broadcaster Kim Eo-jun, who hosts TBS Radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' (News Factory), criticized President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol's decision to relocate the presidential office, asking, "Which citizen asked for the Blue House to be returned?"

On the 21st, Kim said on his TBS 'News Factory' program, "I didn't understand a single line from start to finish of (President-elect Yoon's announcement)."

He continued, "They keep saying they will return the Blue House to the people, but no one has asked for it back," and pointed out, "I absolutely cannot understand the plan to create Yongsan Park to communicate with the public."

He questioned, "Does having a park near the presidential office mean communication with the people? Do we need to move to the Ministry of National Defense building to handle national challenges? We don't hold Cabinet meetings on park benches, do we?"

He also criticized, "I heard they say the president will walk his dog there, but that's not communication with the people; it's just the president walking his dog," adding, "They say the Blue House can't handle national challenges with aides, but if that's true, our country should have collapsed. I don't understand the idea that moving to the Ministry of National Defense building is necessary to handle challenges."

Kim also raised issues with the process of relocating the office. He said, "Telling the Ministry of National Defense to vacate their rooms in just a few days seems like ruling over the ministries," and claimed, "Which country or president-elect tells the Ministry of National Defense to vacate their rooms immediately after winning? This will remain an unprecedented case in world political history."

He added, "Imagine if a U.S. president-elect said, 'I want to work at the Pentagon, vacate the room,' and that news came through foreign media. How absurd would that be?" and mocked, "Even apartment security offices aren't told to vacate a week in advance."

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is holding a press conference on the morning of the 20th at the Presidential Transition Committee press room in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, regarding the relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan. / Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, President-elect Yoon held a press conference at the annex of the Korea Institute of Finance in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to officially announce his plan to relocate the presidential office.

He emphasized that he would start working in the new presidential office relocated to the Ministry of National Defense building on May 10, the first day of his term. He explained, "We considered moving the presidential office to the Gwanghwamun Government Complex, but realized it was not an easy issue due to the significant inconvenience it would cause to nearby citizens and office workers."

Regarding the relocation costs, he said, "There are rumors about costs of 1 trillion won or 500 billion won, but there is no basis for that," adding, "We plan to request a contingency budget of 49.6 billion won in total for relocating the presidential secretariat, remodeling the Ministry of National Defense building, installing security bulletproof windows, and moving expenses."

Addressing concerns about military function gaps due to the Ministry of National Defense's move, he stated, "It is hard to accept the idea that moving military units would cause a defense gap," emphasizing, "We plan to complete the relocation as quickly and efficiently as possible to ensure there is no disruption to security posture."

He added, "There are criticisms that the way to abandon the imperial presidency is itself imperial, but without strong decisions (by the president), it is difficult to escape the imperial presidency," and concluded, "I believe that space governs consciousness. I spoke directly to the people to seek their understanding on this matter."