Controversy Over 'Waste of Taxpayer Money' Leads Yoon to Cancel New State Guesthouse Construction... Impact on Overseas Trips and Approval Ratings

Cancellation of 87.8 Billion Won Budget for New Yeongbingwan Building... Democratic Party and Public Opinion Call It "False Alarm Budget, Waste of Taxes"

On the 16th, one day before President Yoon Seok-yeol's 100th day in office, the Presidential Office building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul is shown. President Yoon, emphasizing the elimination of authoritarianism, moved the stage of state affairs from the former Blue House to Yongsan. With the president's office relocated to Yongsan, the Blue House has been fully opened to the public. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] President Yoon Seok-yeol has ordered the complete withdrawal of the plan to build a state guesthouse costing over 80 billion won. Facing criticism from opposition parties and public opinion labeling it as a "waste of taxpayers' money," the president instructed a full cancellation. Analysts believe this decision was influenced by the recent rebound in approval ratings and the fact that President Yoon will be away on a foreign trip next week. However, the opposition party warned that "this is not an issue that ends with a withdrawal order" and announced plans for further attacks.

Kim Eun-hye, the Chief Public Relations Officer, stated in a media notice on the evening of the 16th, "President Yoon has today ordered the complete withdrawal of the Presidential Office's 'National State Guesthouse' construction plan." Included in this was President Yoon's message: "After returning the Blue House to the people, we intended to create an event space befitting the nation's dignity as a future national asset rather than an asset of the Presidential Office. However, there is regret that this purpose was not sufficiently explained. Immediately withdraw the budget to avoid causing concern to the public."

Earlier, the new government had reportedly allocated 87.863 billion won for the 'Presidential Office Major Auxiliary Facilities Construction Project' to the National Assembly, aimed at building a 'National State Guesthouse' within the Yongsan Presidential Office compound to receive foreign heads of state and others.

However, criticism from the opposition and public opinion was fierce. The Democratic Party of Korea criticized the budget as a "shepherd's budget," pointing out that the amount allocated for a single guesthouse exceeded the cost President Yoon had announced for relocating the office during his candidacy. Public opinion also continued to point out it as a "waste of taxes." In particular, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, said at a supreme council meeting, "If 87.8 billion won is spent on building a guesthouse, nearly 10 million won could be given to 10,000 flood victims. The people are suffering from inflation and job issues, so I don't understand why nearly 100 billion won is being poured into something that might take years and may not even be used by the current president." Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party, also predicted a full budget cut, saying, "The 49.6 billion won cost for relocating the Presidential Office, which President Yoon confidently promised the public, was a complete lie."

Past phone conversations between First Lady Kim Geon-hee and a reporter from Seoul Voice also became an issue. When the reporter mentioned, "An insider says that as soon as the president enters the Blue House, the guesthouse must be moved," the First Lady replied, "Yes, it will be moved."

The Presidential Office did not remain silent. In a briefing, it explained, "There is an unavoidable aspect to the budget allocation because a space is needed to enhance national interests and receive domestic and foreign guests befitting the nation's dignity." It also cited that after relocating the Presidential Office to Yongsan, hosting events for domestic and foreign guests externally incurred additional security costs and caused inconvenience to citizens.

However, President Yoon's order to withdraw the plan was issued quickly after the briefing. In political circles, this is interpreted as a decisive measure to prevent further domestic controversy in the coming week ahead of President Yoon's foreign trip next week. The possibility that the delivery of results from diplomatic activities during the trip could be undermined also influenced the decision.

There is also analysis that the recent rebound in President Yoon's approval rating was a bigger factor. In fact, his approval rating recovered to the 30% range after Chuseok. This rise is attributed to the consolidation of his core support base.

According to a regular public opinion poll released by Gallup the day before (conducted from September 13 to 15 via telephone interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide aged 18 and over), 33% responded that President Yoon is performing his duties well, while 59% said he is performing poorly. Compared to the previous survey (conducted from August 30 to September 1), positive evaluations increased by 6 percentage points, and negative evaluations decreased by 4 percentage points. This is the first time since the third week of July that positive evaluations of President Yoon exceeded 30% and negative evaluations fell below 60% in Gallup's regular surveys. (President Yoon's approval rating recovered to the 30% range after Chuseok. This rise is attributed to the consolidation of his core support base. For detailed survey methodology and results related to the public opinion poll, please refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

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