Taeyoungho "Democrats Must Cooperate on Budget for Foreign Minister's Residence Remodeling"

"Currently, the embassy is cramped, making it difficult to host VIPs"
"Saudi MOU influenced the official residence meeting"

Tae Young-ho, member of the People Power Party./Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Hyun-ji] Tae Young-ho, a member of the ruling People Power Party and the party's floor spokesperson on the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, urged the Democratic Party on the 29th to cooperate in passing the budget for remodeling the Ministry of Foreign Affairs minister's official residence.

At the party's floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly that day, Rep. Tae said, "Currently, the foreign minister's official residence is very cramped and inadequate, making it difficult to host foreign dignitaries," and added, "I urge the Democratic Party to accept the budget for remodeling the foreign minister's official residence based on national interest rather than party interests."

The remodeling project for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs minister's official residence is aimed at preparing facilities for receiving foreign dignitaries and has been allocated 2.174 billion KRW in next year's Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget. The Democratic Party has demanded a full cut of the budget, arguing that the project does not align with the purpose of the 'Diplomatic Network Construction Project' and is a cost related to the presidential office's relocation to Yongsan.

Regarding this, Rep. Tae emphasized the necessity of establishing a new official residence, saying, "Diplomacy is directly related to national interest, and diplomatic venues play a very important role." He continued, "It is said that the meeting between President Yoon Suk-yeol and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) worth 30 billion USD (about 40 trillion KRW) between South Korea and Saudi Arabia had a significant impact," and explained, "President Yoon's Hannam-dong residence was the previous foreign minister's official residence."

He also said, "When Crown Prince bin Salman visited the presidential residence, he repeatedly admired the autumn foliage, saying it was 'wonderful,' and upon leaving Seoul, he sent a telegram expressing 'deep gratitude to President Yoon for the generous hospitality,'" and questioned, "If the presidential residence had been so shabby as to lack basic decorum, would Crown Prince bin Salman have reacted that way?"

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