President Yoon Suk-yeol, "Complete Withdrawal of the National Guesthouse Plan" (Comprehensive)

Order to Halt Amid Unfavorable Public Opinion
Democratic Party Launches Major Offensive

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] On the 16th, President Yoon Seok-yeol instructed the complete withdrawal of the plan to build an annex facility equivalent to the former Blue House State Guesthouse.

The presidential office's plan to construct a new reception space for domestic and foreign guests at a cost of approximately 87.8 billion KRW faced criticism from opposition parties and the media, and due to the emergence of unfavorable public opinion, this measure appears to have been taken.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Eun-hye, the Chief of Public Relations, announced in a press release around 8:30 PM that day, “President Yoon has instructed the complete withdrawal of the presidential office’s ‘National State Guesthouse’ construction plan.”

President Yoon stated, “After returning the Blue House to the people, we intended to prepare an event space befitting the national dignity as a future national asset rather than a presidential office asset, but there is regret that we failed to sufficiently explain this purpose. Immediately withdraw the budget proposal to avoid causing concern to the public.”

The new government initially allocated 87.863 billion KRW for the ‘Presidential Office Major Annex Facility Construction Project’ to support foreign guest receptions and events, and submitted it to the National Assembly.

Over two years, starting with an investment of 49.746 billion KRW next year, the plan was to build a national state guesthouse within the Yongsan Presidential Office compound and consider ways to receive foreign heads of state.

However, this budget allocation plan was revealed the previous day through the office of Democratic Party lawmaker Han Byung-do, leading to fierce criticism from opposition parties. Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung and other party leaders launched a major offensive that day.

Accordingly, the presidential office plans to use the multipurpose hall on the second floor of the Yongsan office building, the Defense Convention Center, or the War Memorial for domestic and foreign guest events for the time being.