President may move to Hannam-dong residence this week

Politics

Published: 04 Sep. 2022, 17:19 Updated: 04 Sep. 2022, 17:58

President may move to Hannam-dong residence this week

A view of the new presidential residence in Hannam-dong, Yongsan District, in central Seoul on Aug. 24, as final preparations are being made for President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee to move in. [YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk-yeol is expected to move into the newly remodeled presidential residence in Hannam-dong in Yongsan District, central Seoul, as early as this week after commuting from his private residence for the past four months.

Yoon and first lady Kim Keon-hee had initially been expected to move into the new residence last Thursday, but presidential officials said a few more days were needed to wrap up final preparations.

This included last-minute checks of the necessary systems, such as an underground bunker, which could be used as a crisis management center in the event of a national disaster, and other security measures.

The new presidential residence is remodeled from the former foreign minister's residence in Hannam-dong and is around five minutes away by car from the Yongsan presidential office.

The new presidential residence and the nearby area were designated as a military facility protection zone for higher level of security by the Defense Ministry last week.

The military can more effectively respond to illegal acts, such unauthorized entry, with the new designation.

The police had been in charge of security of the Blue House in the past.

While remodeling work of his official residence was underway, Yoon has been commuting from his private home in Seocho District, southern Seoul.

Yoon relocated the presidential office and residence from the Blue House compound in northern Gwanghwamun in central Seoul to the Defense Ministry compound in Yongsan with the start of his administration on May 10. This was a part of his campaign promise to become a more accessible president to the public and media, but was criticized by some citing security and cost.

The Blue House, a highly secure area for seven decades, in turn was opened up for the public.

However, there have been inconveniences resulting from the relocation, such as the need to control traffic on the president's 10-minute commute to and from his office and the lack of proper emergency response facilities in his Seocho residence.

Yoon received criticism for overseeing the heavy rainfall and massive flooding crisis last month from his Seocho home last month, a choice made because he didn't want to inconvenience security and distract from disaster response efforts. But Democratic Party (DP) lawmakers raised concerns at the apparent lack of a command center to respond to emergencies and again questioned Yoon's rushed decision to move out of the Blue House, where the presidential office and residence were adjacent.

The government is also reviewing changes to a construction plan for the Yongsan Park, to reflect the changes in the area following the relocation of the presidential office.

According to a copy of the 2023 budget submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to the office of DP Rep. Park Sang-hyuk on Sunday, the budget for next year's Yongsan Park development project was earmarked as 30.38 billion won, up 3.4 times compared to the amount earmarked for this year.

The government allocated as a priority 860 million won for the "establishment of a plan" for the Yongsan Park development project to reflect the changed factors following the relocation of the presidential office.

The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) is in the process of returning the land from the Yongsan Garrison to the Korean government after relocating the USFK headquarters to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi. The government planned to build a national park on this site.

The government planned to open to part of the site for the envisioned national park to the public in late September and opened it on a trial basis in June. The Yongsan Park, to be built in front of the Yongsan presidential office, is viewed as a venue to bring the people nearer to the president once it is opened.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]