Secret Passage Revealed... The Reality of 'Yoon's Sauna': "It Looked Like a Small Hotel"

Chief Secretary Kang Hoon-sik Reveals Private Room Used by Yoon

Kang Hoon-sik, Chief Presidential Secretary, revealed images of a sauna installed inside the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul, during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.

Sauna installed inside the presidential office of former President Yoon Suk-yeol. YouTube 'Kim Eo-jun's Humility Is Hard News Factory'

On January 2, during an appearance on the YouTube channel 'Kim Eo-jun's Humility Is Difficult News Factory,' Chief Secretary Kang unveiled photos of the sauna room installed during former President Yoon Suk-yeol's term, as well as pictures of a secret entrance passage exclusively for the former president. He explained, "I took these photos for record-keeping purposes, as the records would disappear if the facilities were demolished."

Underground connecting passage installed at the Presidential Office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. YouTube 'Kim Eo-jun's Humility Is Difficult News Factory'

Underground connecting passage installed at the Presidential Office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. YouTube 'Kim Eo-jun's Humility Is Difficult News Factory'

The so-called 'secret passage' photos disclosed by Chief Secretary Kang show that a parking space is located right next to the passage, and the walls are made of opaque plastic to prevent anyone from seeing inside from the outside. This passage was created by demolishing a wall in the presidential office building's parking lot and connects to the first basement level. There have been suspicions that this facility was constructed to conceal late arrivals to work during former President Yoon's tenure.

Regarding the so-called 'secret passage,' Chief Secretary Kang stated, "There are two main issues. First, the budget for the facility was not taken from the presidential office budget, but from the Ministry of National Defense budget." He further explained, "A total of 380 million won was diverted for the project because the entrance and access road for the secret passage are located on Ministry of National Defense property."

He continued, "The construction began on July 27, 2022, and the secret entrance project was completed on November 23 of the same year. Former President Yoon stopped the doorstepping (morning Q&A with reporters) two days before the secret entrance was completed, so it appears that he discontinued it at the time of completion."

Former President Yoon Suk-yeol's Presidential Office Interior. YouTube 'Kim Eo-jun's Humility Is Hard News Factory'

Chief Secretary Kang also released photos of the bedroom and sauna inside the presidential office. The private room contains a large bed. The dry sauna inside, measuring about 6.6 square meters, was built with cypress wood, and a television is installed on one wall facing the seating area. Previously, several media outlets raised suspicions that former President Yoon had spent tens of millions of won to install a sauna in the Yongsan office.

He stated, "It is not uncommon for an agency head to have a small private room for short naps. However, having a sauna in the office is unprecedented. From our perspective, it looked as if a small hotel had been built inside, which was quite surprising."