Yoon's Office Relocation Cost 36 Billion Won Approved at Cabinet Meeting... First Step of the 'Yongsan Era' (Comprehensive)

Priority Construction of Essential Security Facilities Followed by Gradual Relocation of Ministry of National Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seon-hee] The contingency fund for relocating the presidential office to Yongsan was approved at the Cabinet meeting on the 6th. The government plans to first establish security-related facilities such as the Crisis Management Center and proceed with remodeling the Hannam-dong official residence to be used as the presidential residence. This marks the official beginning of the presidential office's "Yongsan era."

On the morning of the same day, the government held an extraordinary Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum and deliberated on a contingency fund expenditure plan totaling 36 billion KRW. This came 17 days after President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol announced last month that the presidential office would be located in Yongsan. The contingency fund includes 17.6 billion KRW under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, 11.8 billion KRW under the Ministry of National Defense, and 6.6 billion KRW under the Presidential Security Service. However, the approved expenditure plan is 13.6 billion KRW less than the 49.6 billion KRW initially requested by the Presidential Transition Committee. Prime Minister Kim stated, "The issue of relocating the presidential office is a matter for the next government to decide regardless of support or opposition," adding, "This is in the spirit of cooperating to ensure a smooth government transition without any security gaps."

The government plans to prioritize the establishment of essential security facilities such as the Crisis Management Center and the Comprehensive Security Situation Room to prevent any security gaps. A contingency fund of 11.6 billion KRW will be invested in this. Regarding the relocation of the Ministry of National Defense headquarters and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which was a contentious issue until the last moment, the costs will be allocated first, but the relocation timing will be coordinated to proceed only after the completion of essential security facilities. Considering the need to contract the relocation costs as a whole, the full 11.8 billion KRW requested by the Transition Committee for the Ministry of National Defense relocation was reflected.

Additionally, 10.1 billion KRW was allocated for general office construction costs and IT service systems. A budget of 2.5 billion KRW will be invested in remodeling the current official residence of the Army Chief of Staff to be used as the presidential residence. Additional expenses such as the creation of the presidential office and the relocation of the Security Service will be discussed later, taking into account the status of security facility construction and the scheduled end of the Korea-US Combined Command Post Exercise at the end of this month.

However, it is expected to be difficult to establish the new Yongsan presidential office by President-elect Yoon’s inauguration day (May 10) as originally envisioned by the Transition Committee. Transition Committee spokesperson Bae Hyun-jin also said, "It is impossible to relocate exactly on May 10, and it is expected to take some time even after that." Therefore, until the new office is completed, President-elect Yoon is likely to continue using the current Tongui-dong office.