Where will South Korea's next president work?

Following the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol, attention has been focused on whether the presidential office, which Yoon relocated during his term in office, will be relocated in the future.
Until Yoon took office, the presidential office had been located in the Blue House (commonly known as the Blue House) for over 70 years, but as part of Yoon's campaign pledge, it was moved to the former Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
The Blue House is now open to the public and has become a popular tourist spot.
Former Chairman Lee Jae-myung is leading the polls as the most suitable candidate to become the next president. On the 17th of this month, Lee arrived at the presidential office from his home in Chungcheongnam-do, central South Korea.
Lee also announced his pledge to move his office to Sejong City, an administrative city in Cheongnam-do (South Cheong Province). At a party executive meeting held last month, Lee ordered a study on moving his office to the city.
However, some believe it would be difficult to move it quickly because a constitutional amendment would be required to move it to the city.
The area around the Blue House, where the presidential office was located before Yoon took office,
Originally, it was inhabited by royal families during the Goryeo Dynasty. In July 1939, during the Japanese colonial period, the residence of the Governor-General of Korea was built, and when the Republic of Korea was established in 1948, the first president, Lee Seung-man, lived in the former residence of the former governor-general.
The residence of the Governor-General of Korea began to be used as the official residence and official residence under the name Gyeongmudae. In December 1960, the fourth president, Yun Bo-sung, changed the name to Cheong Wa Dae.
The current Blue House was completed in 1991 during the Roh Tae-woo administration. It is a vast building measuring 25 square meters, more than three times the size of the White House.
In addition to the presidential office, the presidential residence where the president and his family live, and the building where the secretaries work were built in the ground. The distance between the main building where the presidential office is located and the building where the secretaries work is less than 500 meters.
The name "Cheong Wa Dae" comes from the fact that the roof of the official residence is covered with blue tiles.
In the past, the Blue House was under strict security, and even the Chief of Staff had to go through a security check before visiting the Oval Office.
Permission had to be obtained by phone beforehand. For national defense reasons, the Blue House is not shown on maps, except for some tourist maps, and aerial photographs for domestic use are often processed or blurred.
Regarding the Blue House, Yoon, who criticized the previous Moon Jae-in administration as "closed-door politics," said he would "return the Blue House to the people" in order to close the gap with the people.
It was opened to the public in May 2022 to coincide with Yoon's inauguration as president. The presidential office at the Blue House was moved to the former Ministry of National Defense building.
The former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Moon also made this a campaign promise, but it was shelved due to security and safety reasons. It was finally realized under the Yoon administration. The authoritarian "Cheong Wa Dae era" that has continued since the establishment of the government in 1948
At the time, the end of the presidential election was praised as a major turning point in modern Korean history. With Yoon's impeachment, a presidential election was held on June 3rd, and a new leader of South Korea was to be chosen.
The new president will be the first in the presidential election, and attention is focused on whether the presidential office will be moved from its current location.
As mentioned above, he has indicated his intention to relocate his office to the administrative city of Sejong. The city was created in 2012 through the merger of local governments. Former President Roh Moo-hyun has been promoting the idea of "Sejong, an administrative city."
"After reaching a social consensus, we will proceed with the complete relocation of the National Assembly building and the presidential office, and will resume the currently suspended public works," Lee said on social media.
The relocation of government agencies will also be resumed as soon as possible," and the city was declared the "administrative capital." However, in 2004, the Constitutional Court ruled that Seoul was the "capital of the Republic of Korea."
The ruling also called for a constitutional amendment to be made to make Sejong the administrative capital, as Lee has pledged to do.
"Within the party (the Democratic Party of Korea), there are various opinions regarding the issue of relocating the presidential office if Lee wins the presidential election, but there are also concerns that the Blue House (the former presidential office) should be used again and that the presidential office should be relocated to another location in the future," said the Democratic Party of Korea.
The prevailing view is that the presidential office will eventually be moved to Sejong." A variety of opinions have been expressed by presidential candidates other than Lee, and the ruling party's People's Popular Democratic Party has
Hong Jun-pyo, former mayor of Daegu, has argued that the office should be moved back to the Blue House. However, since the Blue House has already been opened to the public and its internal structure has been made public,
However, there are security issues with establishing a new presidential office in the future. Meanwhile, the former Ministry of National Defense building where the office is currently located is the site of Yoon's declaration of "emergency martial law," and has a closed-off image.
So where will the next South Korean president be working?