Blue House a terrible place to live due to bad geomancy, says national museum director
Published: 23 Oct. 2025, 14:14
Updated: 23 Oct. 2025, 17:29
![Yoo Hong-jun, director of the National Museum of Korea, answers lawmakers’ questions during the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee's parliamentary audit of the museum and related institutions on Oct. 22. [LIM HYUN-DONG]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/23/658b9162-6460-4833-ac3d-1e614f349909.jpg)
Yoo Hong-jun, director of the National Museum of Korea, answers lawmakers’ questions during the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee's parliamentary audit of the museum and related institutions on Oct. 22. [LIM HYUN-DONG]
Yoo Hong-jun, director of the National Museum of Korea, said Wednesday he urged the Lee Jae Myung administration to move the presidential residence to a quieter site in the old government guesthouse in central Seoul's Samcheong-dong, reopening a long-simmering debate over where the nation’s leader should live.
“I suggested to the presidential office that the workspace could return to the Blue House, but that the residence should move to the Samcheong-dong guesthouse,” Yoo told lawmakers during a National Assembly audit session.
Yoo, one of the country’s leading art historians, has previously argued that the presidential residence in the Blue House is unsuitable both practically and geomantically.
“The site of the residence was never meant for that purpose,” he said. “It has become a very damp place, and beyond geomantic problems, architects also consider it unfit as a living space.”
“I think it would be right to relocate the residence to the guesthouse and open the current one to the public," he added.
The presidential residence houses the president and first lady’s private quarters, including a bedroom, kitchen, meeting room and a space for the first lady’s use.
![Tourists crowd the grounds of the Blue House in Jongno District, central Seoul, on June 3. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/23/daa52d91-d506-4ac7-b076-3af375fec9ce.jpg)
Tourists crowd the grounds of the Blue House in Jongno District, central Seoul, on June 3. [NEWS1]
Yoo was an adviser to the presidential committee for an "era of Gwanghwamun" during the early days of the Moon Jae-in administration, when the government explored relocating the presidential office to the Gwanghwamun area in Jongno District, central Seoul.
At the time, he concluded that the move was impractical but said, “[Even if the office stays,] the residence should be relocated due to its inauspicious geomantic traits. There are many reasons for this.”
When the issue resurfaced, Yoo disclosed that then-first lady Kim Jung-sook had also wanted to move. In a 2022 radio interview, he recalled, “I told President Moon to at least move the residence. And first lady Kim wanted it more than anyone.”
![This photo shows the dressing room inside the presidential residence at the Blue House in Seoul on May 24, 2022. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/23/4458131c-0117-4fb7-aa4e-5422f64145fb.jpg)
This photo shows the dressing room inside the presidential residence at the Blue House in Seoul on May 24, 2022. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
However, relocating all three sites — the presidential office, residence and Samcheong-dong guesthouse — would have required large-scale construction and raised budget concerns, leading to the plan’s eventual cancellation.
Geomantic interpretations surrounding the Blue House relocation continued under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. Political broker Myung Tae-kyun, who reportedly kept in touch with former first lady Kim Keon Hee, once said in a recorded call that he advised her not to return to the Blue House because “going there means death.”
He claimed that “Mount Baegak, the mountain behind the Blue House, bends unnaturally to the left.”
Geomancy expert Baek Jae-kwon also became embroiled in controversy after it emerged that he had accompanied former first lady Kim Keon Hee in surveying possible new sites for the presidential residence. During that period, Baek reportedly spoke with Kim more than ten times.
![This photo shows the makeup room inside the presidential residence at the Blue House in Seoul on May 25, 2022. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/23/984f9024-4648-41ba-b947-dc70494cef3d.jpg)
This photo shows the makeup room inside the presidential residence at the Blue House in Seoul on May 25, 2022. [JOONGANG ILBO]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM CHUL-WOONG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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