President-elect Yoon to Begin Work at Ministry of National Defense Immediately Upon Inauguration

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol is expected to begin work on May 10, the day of his inauguration, at the new office set up in the Yongsan Ministry of National Defense building. This is because preliminary budget approval has been granted for part of the office relocation costs, and there is a high possibility of moving into key facilities including the office.

On the 7th, an official from the transition team stated, "On May 10, the day the new government is launched and work begins, President Yoon Seok-yeol will start his presidential duties without any security gaps." When asked if President-elect Yoon might commute to Tongui-dong, where the transition team office is located, on the first day of work, the official replied, "We will do our best and aim to prevent such a situation from occurring."

Regarding concerns about security gaps, the official explained, "The tactical system is at the Blue House, but the fire and police systems, which are not at the Ministry of National Defense, need to be connected. The software connection work must be completed for the Crisis Management Center to be fully operational, and this will be finalized before work begins on the 10th."

However, since the Ministry of National Defense postponed moving the main building's 1st to 4th floors until after the main schedule of the first half of the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, the office space where President-elect Yoon will start work on inauguration day is expected to be a temporary office. Currently, President-elect Yoon’s team has planned to place the presidential office, secretariat, press room, spokesperson’s office, and security office on the 1st to 4th floors of the current Ministry of National Defense main building. The 4th to 5th floors will house the aides’ offices, and the 6th floor and above will be occupied by the public-private joint committee.

The official said, "There have been rumors about setting up tents and other external theories, but we are fully prepared with Plan B, Plan C, and so on to prevent that. Ultimately, the new president will begin work starting May 10. We ask for your understanding that we cannot disclose detailed information about which floor and how the office will be arranged."

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