Cheong "Preliminary Budget for Office Relocation to Be Approved at Tomorrow's Emergency Cabinet Meeting"... Excludes JCS Relocation Costs (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in received a report on the preliminary budget results related to the relocation of the presidential office on the 5th and promptly issued instructions. The preliminary budget will be reviewed and approved at the extraordinary Cabinet meeting scheduled for the 6th.

Park Kyung-mi, the Blue House spokesperson, stated in a briefing that "President Moon received the review results of the preliminary budget related to the presidential office relocation this morning and instructed to hold an extraordinary Cabinet meeting as soon as possible to promptly process the preliminary budget."

Accordingly, the government plans to hold an extraordinary Cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister tomorrow to review and approve the preliminary budget related to the presidential office relocation. Previously, the transition committee also announced that "the preliminary budget will be reviewed and approved at the extraordinary Cabinet meeting on the 6th."

However, with the exclusion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) relocation costs, the preliminary budget to be submitted at the extraordinary Cabinet meeting is expected to be in the 30 billion KRW range. A Blue House official explained, "It is understood that the JCS relocation has been excluded from the discussion," adding, "This is because it could cause a security gap, and that condition led to its exclusion."

Earlier, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety stated that processing at the Cabinet meeting on the 5th was impossible due to concerns about a "security gap." When asked by reporters whether the security gap concerns were resolved within a day, a Blue House official said, "It is understood that the differences regarding the security gap have been narrowed," adding, "However, utmost efforts must be made continuously during the implementation process to ensure that no security gaps occur."

Meanwhile, on the same day, President Moon was also briefed at a staff meeting on the "commencement of installation of the Korean-style gas turbine" and stated, "Our country becoming the fifth in the world to successfully develop an independent power generation gas turbine is highly significant in terms of domestic production of key equipment, especially since gas turbine technology serves as the foundation for hydrogen turbines."

All 161 power generation gas turbines supplied domestically have been foreign-made, and the gas turbine operating at the Gimpo combined heat and power plant on this day is the first domestically produced gas turbine to be operated on-site.