An Additional 30 Billion Won Invested in the Presidential Office's Move to Yongsan... 'Estimates Suggest It Could Cost 1 Trillion Won'

According to the status of department-specific transfers and reallocations, an additional 30 billion KRW beyond the contingency fund
"If combined with Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dragon Hill, Cyber Command, it could be close to 1 trillion KRW"
"No master plan, so no budget estimate available"

On the 16th, one day before President Yoon Suk-yeol's 100th day in office, the Presidential Office building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul is shown. President Yoon, emphasizing the elimination of authoritarianism, moved the seat of government from the former Blue House to Yongsan. With the president's office relocated to Yongsan, the Blue House has been fully opened to the public. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] It has been confirmed that at least 30 billion KRW was additionally invested following the relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan. Considering the relocation costs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and others, some analyses estimate the total relocation cost to be close to 1 trillion KRW.

According to the status of budget transfers by major ministries for the second quarter, disclosed by Han Byung-do, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 31st, an additional 26.39 billion KRW was transferred in the third quarter following 4.995 billion KRW in the second quarter. This amount excludes the 49.6 billion KRW that was allocated as contingency funds during the previous administration.

The Ministry of National Defense first reallocated 2.95 billion KRW, which was originally designated for survey and design costs, and in the third quarter, it plans to transfer 19 billion KRW to consolidate and relocate the Ministry’s facilities, which had been divided into 5 to 6 locations. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety reallocated 300 million KRW for the presidential office residence construction costs and plans to transfer an additional 2.09 billion KRW.

The National Police Agency reallocated 1.145 billion KRW in the second quarter for security units and training center relocation costs, and in the third quarter, it plans to receive 5 billion KRW in contingency funds from the Ministry of Economy and Finance to further execute construction costs. Following the 4.995 billion KRW in the second quarter, an additional 26.39 billion KRW was transferred in the third quarter. This amount excludes the 49.6 billion KRW contingency funds allocated during the previous administration.

Opposition parties have speculated that the total cost could approach 1 trillion KRW.

Kim Byung-joo, a Democratic Party member and ranking member of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, appeared on TBS Radio’s ‘Kim Eo-jun’s News Factory’ on the same day and said, “The cost proposed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff for their relocation is 298 billion KRW,” and “Building a new official residence for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs alone will cost more than 350 billion KRW.”

President Yoon Suk-yeol is reported to move from his private residence in Seocho-dong, Seoul, to the official residence in Hannam-dong in early September. Accordingly, the Ministry of National Defense designated the area around the Hannam-dong residence, which was formerly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs minister's official residence, as a military facility protection zone starting from the 31st and strengthened security. View of the Hannam-dong residence from Namsan, Seoul, on the 1st. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

He continued, “We also have to relocate the remaining U.S. military bases, and since this was our request, the Minister of National Defense acknowledged that we have to build the Dragon Hill Hotel,” adding, “Dragon Hill will also cost more than 300 billion KRW.”

Kim said, “There is also a plan to relocate the Cyber Command,” and “just these few large projects already bring the estimated budget close to 1 trillion KRW.” He pointed out, “The important thing is that there should be a master plan, but there still isn’t one,” and “the budget estimation is not possible.”