[One Year of Yoon Administration] ① "Walking 10,000 Steps a Day"... Yongsan Era, Changed Communication Methods

Presidential Office Modeled After White House Oval Office
Advisors Work Right Next to President Yoon's Office

One Year Since Inauguration: 110 Economic Meetings Led by President Yoon
No Solo Meals... Yoon's Communication Is 'Meal Politics'

Editor's NotePresident Yoon Seok-yeol marks his first year in office on the 10th. After 74 years since the establishment of the Republic of Korea government, the Blue House, which symbolized the 'core of power,' has been returned to the people, and the Yongsan era of the presidential office has taken root. However, despite the regime change after five years, crisis situations have repeated over the past year. Various variables such as the US-China economic hegemony war and the supply chain crisis caused by the Ukraine war have long triggered red alerts for the domestic economy. Although the president is personally pushing for three major reforms and seeking breakthroughs in exports, the situation remains challenging. Asia Economy analyzes the achievements of the first year of the Yoon administration and reviews the economic direction for the remaining four years of the second year in power.

Evaluations of the Yongsan presidential office relocation, symbolizing the regime change, are mixed. The communication will of the non-politician and first former prosecutor general president, who declared, "I will never enter the Blue House, a symbol of imperial power," has been conveyed to each ministry and the ruling party, reflected in the establishment and promotion of the Yoon administration's national agenda. There are also considerable revealed fiscal and administrative losses caused by the Yongsan move. However, the introduction of door-stepping (Q&A on the way to work) and the president personally overseeing the Emergency Economic and Livelihood Meeting 16 times have led to on-site command of various economic policies and crisis response measures.

◆"Only 10,000 steps inside the office... It became surreal"

This is also why President Yoon repeatedly instructs his aides several times a day to "listen directly to the voices from the field." He orders them to hear diverse voices from the field regarding policy direction reports from each ministry and to reflect them in policies. It reflects his determination not to repeat confusions like the 'age 5 elementary school admission' and '69-hour workweek' policies, which were prematurely announced and criticized by the public.

A senior presidential office official summarizes the biggest difference between the Blue House and the Yongsan presidential office as 'the surrealization of communication.' Unlike the Blue House structure where the main building and the secretary building were separated, President Yoon seated all his aides in one building of the Yongsan presidential office. This follows the model of the White House's 'Oval Office,' which the president regards as a role model, arranging aides around the presidential office and placing staff members right next to the aides.

The reason aides say, "Our cell phone pedometers record 10,000 steps a day" is because of this. Since presidential office staff gather together, meetings with the president or with staff members happen frequently, and they often use stairs instead of elevators.

Another senior official within the presidential office, who has experience working at the Blue House, cites the increase in face-to-face reporting as the biggest difference. Unlike the Blue House days when face-to-face reporting times had to be scheduled in advance, now there is an opportunity to catch 'a brief moment' before the next report. The official said, "(The president's) schedule and time for receiving reports are tight, but sometimes earlier reports finish quickly, allowing immediate reporting depending on the matter," adding, "Even now, the president sometimes visits aides directly."

With the increase in face-to-face situations, simple reporting methods outside meetings have become simpler. In some cases, when the president urgently requested results on a specific matter, he asked the aide for a 'post-it' report instead of dozens of pages of result reports. This is because quick government decisions are needed in cases of accidents or policy decisions. When President Yoon called an aide late at night to ask for an evaluation of a policy proposal from a ministry, the call lasted less than 30 seconds.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆Directly overseeing economic matters about every other day

The communication changes caused by the Yongsan move also affected the president's external schedule. As conversations with aides increased, opportunities to personally oversee the field arose. Reviewing the internal and external economic schedules President Yoon handled over the past year confirms this. Excluding regular schedules such as meetings with aides or routine reports from ministries, the number of economic schedules chaired by President Yoon inside and outside the presidential office reached about 110. This means he checked economic situations about every other day, excluding weekends.

Excluding regularly held meetings with aides, ministry work reports, and simple receptions, the simple numerical comparison shows that he personally engaged about twice a week, or about every other day excluding weekends. This contrasts with the previous administration, where former President Moon reduced internal and external economic schedules after about three months in office and increased work reports from the secretariat and ministries.

President Yoon's messages were conveyed more intuitively. At the first chief secretary meeting he chaired the day after his inauguration, his first words were, "In a situation where the people are struggling with severe livelihood difficulties, carefully monitor various indicators and consider the causes of inflation and suppression measures." At the first Cabinet meeting the previous day, he also prioritized managing the livelihood economy, saying, "We have prepared a supplementary budget based on central government fiscal expenditure standards for price and livelihood stabilization."

This economic crisis awareness of the president led to the urgent convening of the 'Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Review Meeting' two days later. At this meeting, President Yoon said, "The economy that people actually feel is very difficult," and urged, "At times like this, the government must accurately recognize the economic situation and proactively prepare for the crisis." This was a direct check of the macroeconomic situation as abnormal signals were detected in external economic conditions such as rapid rises in exchange rates and prices.

He also committed to overseeing the 'Emergency Economic and Livelihood Meeting,' attended by ministers of economic-related ministries. The first meeting was held just three days after the announcement, and detailed instructions were given, including expanding tariff quota items, supporting discounts on agricultural, livestock, and fishery products, and expanding the limit of the flexible oil tax rate.

During preparations for the Korea-US summit, considered the biggest event in the Yoon administration's diplomacy, he attended the 'National Strategy Meeting for Strengthening the Competitiveness of the Secondary Battery Industry.' At this meeting, President Yoon emphasized, "Securing next-generation core technologies will determine our future success or failure."

Major Economic-Related Events During President Yoon Suk-yeol's First Year in Office / Presidential Office

◆No eating alone... Yoon's communication is 'meal politics'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon's promise during his presidential campaign that he would "not eat alone" has been maintained throughout his first year in office. Shortly after inauguration, he personally celebrated aides' birthdays, visiting pizza places in broad daylight or eating janchi-guksu (banquet noodles) near the presidential office. At events inviting outsiders to the presidential office, he instructs that meals must be provided. Evening meals with aides inside the office building are frequent. In fact, these dinner gatherings are used as reporting occasions, where opinions are exchanged on issues such as the economic crisis and ongoing domestic and international political and social issues.

President Yoon's 'meal politics' has expanded into 'residence dinner politics.' Since moving into the Hannam-dong residence in November last year, he has increased informal dinners, welcoming Crown Prince Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia as his first guest. Although residence meals are generally subject to confidentiality, reports continue on President Yoon's dinner meetings, including gatherings with so-called 'Yoon core' lawmakers and their spouses, as well as meetings involving the cabinet, military personnel, and religious circles.

Choi Jin, director of the Presidential Leadership Research Institute, said, "The Blue House itself was a highly authoritative and closed space, so leaving it can be positively evaluated," adding, "However, it is not just the frequency of communication that matters but also the qualitative expansion is necessary. Ultimately, the development of communication with the people and aides will significantly affect approval ratings."