People storm Blue House, but in a celebratory way

Politics

Published: 10 May. 2022, 18:41 Updated: 11 May. 2022, 22:45

People storm Blue House, but in a celebratory way

Visitors walk into the Blue House complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, Tuesday, as President Yoon Suk-yeol began his five-year term. [KIM SANG-SEON]

Strolling outside the presidential residence in the Blue House complex Tuesday, Gu Hee-suk was filled with awe. Everything felt surreal.

“This garden is amazing,” the 58-year-old gasped. “Our former presidents had all this space to themselves! No wonder they didn’t want to leave.”

Gu, who had traveled all the way from Pohang, North Gyeongsang, 272 kilometers (169 miles) southeast of Seoul, was among some 26,000 selected applicants who toured the Blue House compound in Jongno District, central Seoul on Tuesday, hours after Yoon Suk-yeol was sworn into office.

The front gates swung open at 11:37 a.m., minutes before the conclusion of Yoon’s inauguration in Yeouido, western Seoul.

Unlike Blue House tours under the Moon Jae-in administration, the current tours are without a guide, basically allowing visitors to roam around permitted areas for nearly two hours. While previous tours handled 1,500 visitors a day, the new tours will be open to 39,000.

The expanded Blue House tours are a part of Yoon’s election pledge to “return the Blue House to the public.” The conservative president has been adamant about not moving into the Blue House, calling it a symbol of “imperialistic” power.

Immediately after he was elected in March, Yoon said he would bring the presidential office closer to the people by relocating it to Yongsan, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) away from the Blue House, and then open up the Blue House complex as a park or museum.

Seventy-four people were chosen in advance to be the first to step into the complex under the Yoon administration Tuesday, among them students, foreigners, cultural figures and tour guides. The number of people symbolized the years that the past 12 presidents spent in the Blue House since the Republic of Korea was founded in 1948.

“I’m so overwhelmed that the Blue House has finally returned to the people,” said Jang Yeong-hee, 54, the principal of Seoul Maedong Elementary School, who was touring the complex with his students. “I want to play drop the handkerchief [a variation of duck duck goose] on Nokjiwon with the kids.”

Nokjiwon, also known as the Green Grass Garden, is where some 120 different tree species can be found on an area of 3,300 square meters (0.8 acre), and where former presidents used to host outdoor events.

The new tours, however, do have some restrictions.

Visitors are not able to enter the buildings in what Yoon’s government described as unresolved security issues. Yoon’s transition team last month said it was working toward a full opening of the Blue House compound, which would require the removal of confidential documents and telecommunications systems.

Most areas within the Blue House complex that opened to the public Tuesday could also be seen on tours in the Moon administration. They were the Main Office Building, where former presidents worked; Yeongbingwan, also known as the State Guest House, where large meetings and official events involving foreign guests were hosted; Nokjiwon; and Sangchunjae, a Korean-style hanok structure used for hosting foreign guests and unofficial meetings.

Some newly added areas included the president’s residence and Chimnyugak, a traditional pavilion that’s designated as a Seoul tangible cultural heritage.

Anyone can apply for the tours via www.opencheongwadae.kr, Naver, KakaoTalk or Toss. Only chosen applicants may participate in the tours. Six time slots will be offered from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. until May 22.

Blue House tours after May 22 will may be different after seeing how the public responds to the tours in the next couple of weeks, the Yoon administration said. Night tours could be added.

Aside from the tours, the hiking course behind the Blue House on Mount Bukak, which had partially been closed to the public after North Korean commandos infiltrated the area in 1968 on an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate then-President Park Chung Hee, also opened to the public Tuesday. No prior applications are required.

BYSUNGJI-WON,LEESUNG-EUN[lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]