Woo Sang-ho "172 Seats of the Democratic Party Have Tremendous Influence... Don't Be Anxious About Yoon's Power"

Woo Sang-ho Criticizes President-elect Yoon's 'Office Relocation to Yongsan'
"Should We Create Yoon's Office Despite National Defense Security Gaps and Huge Budget Costs?"

Democratic Party lawmaker Woo Sang-ho criticized President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol's pledge to relocate the presidential office. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Woo Sang-ho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, addressed Democratic Party supporters, saying, "Since the Democratic Party, with its 172 seats, still wields tremendous influence over legislation and re-legislation, I hope you do not feel too threatened by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration."

In an interview with TBS Radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' on the 21st, Rep. Woo said, "It seems our supporters are uneasy because of the power of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol," adding, "South Korea is a society governed by law, and not everything is decided by an individual exercising power."

Regarding President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol's announcement to relocate the presidential office to Yongsan, he criticized, "If the transition committee is making such a sloppy execution plan, then South Korea is in big trouble." He continued, "Upon review, Gwanghwamun was somewhat difficult. All the surrounding buildings would have to have their windows covered with iron plates, and the overall control zone would be too wide, causing great inconvenience to the public. So, judging that relocating the office to Gwanghwamun was difficult is realistic. However, suddenly deciding to move to Yongsan because of that is too hasty," he evaluated dismissively.

Rep. Woo also pointed out that President-elect Yoon's insistence on relocating the office is hasty. He questioned, "Should we build a new office for candidate Yoon Seok-yeol at the cost of national defense security gaps and enormous budget expenditures?" He added, "Even constructing Gwanghwamun Square took five years of discussion during former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's administration, and even now, while construction is underway, there are still complaints about whether it is right or wrong. How much more so the relocation of a country's major defense departments and the Blue House office?how can the president-elect decide this on a whim?"

Rep. Woo further stated, "At the very least, this should be prepared, debated, public opinion should be heard, and side effects examined together. Once moved, that person is not going to be president forever, right?" He also sharply criticized, "From that perspective, can such a unilateral and hasty decision be made?"

Rep. Woo agreed with concerns about security gaps arising from the separation of the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff due to the office relocation. He said, "I have never seen a commander-in-chief say that dispersing our security capabilities and military command capabilities is not a problem," adding, "Dispersing defense capabilities for the sake of your own office? I absolutely cannot understand or agree with that."