President-elect Yoon: "No basis for 1 trillion won cost of relocating Ministry of National Defense to Blue House... 49.6 billion won requested"

President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol Decides to Relocate Blue House and Defense Ministry Offices
Regarding Shamanism Controversy, "Democratic Party Is More Interested"

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is holding a press conference on the relocation of the Blue House presidential office to the Yongsan Ministry of National Defense building at the press conference room of the Presidential Transition Committee, located in the annex of the Korea Financial Training Institute in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 20th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol stated regarding the costs involved in relocating the presidential office from the Blue House to the Yongsan Ministry of National Defense building, "There are claims of 1 trillion won or 500 billion won, but these have no basis," adding, "We plan to request a contingency fund of 49.6 billion won."

On the morning of the 20th, at a press conference held at the Presidential Transition Committee office in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, concerning the 'Plan to Relocate the Blue House Presidential Office,' President-elect Yoon responded to a question about the internally estimated relocation cost of around 40 billion won, which he understood did not include the costs of relocating the Ministry of National Defense or creating a surrounding public park, by asking how much it would be if all were included.

President-elect Yoon said, "Moving the Ministry of National Defense to the Joint Chiefs of Staff building will cost about 11.8 billion won for moving and remodeling," and added, "Acquisition of assets necessary for relocating the Presidential Secretariat and remodeling the 20-year-old Ministry of National Defense building will cost 25.2 billion won, and the security office moving expenses are expected to be 9.997 billion won."

He continued, "We have decided to use one official residence in Hannam-dong, and remodeling that residence and installing necessary security facilities will require 2.6 billion won," explaining, "Therefore, we plan to request a contingency fund of 49.6 billion won." Regarding the estimation of these costs, President-elect Yoon added, "These were not created by us but are all details extracted and received from the Ministry of Economy and Finance."

Initially, the Democratic Party had claimed that the cost of relocating the Ministry of National Defense building would be about 1 trillion won. Kim Byung-joo, a Democratic Party lawmaker and former army general affiliated with the National Defense Committee, appeared on TBS radio on the 18th and pointed out, "Relocating the presidential office to the Ministry of National Defense building will cost at least 1 trillion won," adding, "It could cost an astronomical amount, and (President-elect Yoon's side) cannot predict it."

However, President-elect Yoon dismissed this by saying, "Claims of 1 trillion won or 500 billion won have no basis." Earlier, spokesperson Kim Eun-hye also emphasized in a briefing, "Saying it would be close to 1 trillion won is an exaggeration," and stressed, "We are seriously considering the precious taxes of the people and will not use them recklessly."

A bird's-eye view released during a press conference held by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on the 20th at the Presidential Transition Committee located in the annex of the Korea Institute of Finance in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, regarding the relocation of the Blue House presidential office to the Yongsan Ministry of National Defense building. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

President-elect Yoon also explained that he would minimize traffic inconvenience for citizens around Yongsan. On this day, in response to concerns that "traffic control during commuting to the Hannam-dong official residence is expected to cause inconvenience to citizens," he said, "There are various routes, but traffic control and entry are expected to take about 3 to 5 minutes," adding, "If time is used appropriately, I believe there will be no significant inconvenience to citizens."

Regarding questions about ongoing controversies related to pungsu (feng shui) and shamanism concerning the relocation to the Ministry of National Defense building, he said, "These issues came up during the presidential election process, but it seems the Democratic Party is very interested in shamanism," adding, "And Yongsan was not completely excluded from the beginning; it was considered as one of several alternatives during the process of making the campaign pledge."

He explained, "The Ministry of National Defense building has an underground bunker where the NSC (National Security Council) can convene in emergencies. However, Gwanghwamun (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building) does not have this," and added, "To use a helicopter or hold an NSC meeting, you would have to return to the Blue House, and relocating the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or government offices to another building itself poses enormous problems."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.