South Korean presidential office to move to Blue House within the year, 130 billion won of taxpayers' money spent

Work is underway to move the South Korean presidential office from Yongsan in Seoul to the Blue House. The Blue House has served as the presidential office for many years, but under Yoon Seo-kyo,
The previous administration of President Yoon Seok-yeol criticized the Blue House as a "symbol of imperial power" and moved its presidential office functions to its current location. However, the current administration of President Lee Jae-myung has decided to move the presidential office back to the Blue House.
The Blue House has stated that it will be relocated to the Blue House, where it should be. The Blue House said that the relocation to Yongsan under the previous Yoon administration cost approximately 80 billion won (approximately 8.47 billion yen).
The relocation to the Blue House under the current Lee administration will cost approximately 50 billion won, with South Korean media reporting that "the round-trip move will cost 130 billion won" (YTN, a news channel).
The prefecture expects the relocation work to be completed around Christmas. The name Blue House comes from the fact that the roof of the official residence is covered with blue tiles. The surrounding area was originally a high-rise building.
During the Japanese colonial period, the residence of the Governor-General of Korea was built in July 1939, and when the Republic of Korea was established in 1948, the first president, Lee Seung-man (Rhee Syngman), lived in the former Governor-General of Korea.
The official residence was named Gyeongmudae and began to be used as the official residence. 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 25 square meters in size, more than three times the size of the US White House.
Within the vast 100-square-meter site, the presidential office, the official residence where the president and his family live, and the building where his secretaries work are all built.
The Blue House was once under strict security, and even the Chief of Staff had to call ahead to get permission before visiting the presidential office.
Regarding the Blue House, former President Yoon, who criticized the “closed-door politics” of the Moon Jae-in administration (May 2017-May 2022), said he wanted to close the gap with the people and called for the “Blue House.”
"I will return the Blue House to the people," he declared. The Blue House building and grounds will be open to the public in time for Yoon's presidential inauguration in May 2022.
At the time, some people praised the end of the "Cheong Wa Dae era" as a major turning point in modern Korean history. Former President Yoon was based in Seoul's Yongsan District, about 6 kilometers from the Blue House.
The President's office was set up in the former Ministry of National Defense building and he began working there. The official residence, which was located within the Blue House, was also moved to Hannam-dong in the same district. After the Blue House was opened to the public, the President's office and rooms for cabinet meetings were used as the presidential office.
The event attracted many visitors, as they were able to see places that had never been accessible before. It is said that one in six people in Japan visited the event.
Meanwhile, President Lee, who took office in June this year, has been voicing concerns about the presidential office in Yongsan since he was a presidential candidate, saying, "There are issues with wiretapping and security.
"If I am elected, I will use the presidential office in Yongsan for now, but it would be better to quickly renovate the Blue House and move there," he said, announcing his intention to return the functions of the presidential office to the Blue House.
In addition, former President Yoon was impeached and removed from office for declaring "emergency martial law" in December last year, and the current presidential office is also the "stage" for that emergency martial law.
The negative image of the previous Yoon administration is strong, and this is believed to have been one of the reasons for the decision to relocate.
The Cabinet approved a 25.9 billion won contingency fund to cover the costs of the relocation. The Blue House will also close for public viewing in July of this year, and preparations have been underway to relocate the presidential office.
Construction work on the Blue House's electrical and communications equipment was completed in 2018. On the 9th of this month, work began on relocating office equipment, documents, computers, and other business supplies from the presidential office in Yongsan.
On the 9th, the media reported, "In preparation for the relocation, protective sheets have been placed on the floors and other areas of the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul, creating a hectic atmosphere with workers coming and going."
On the other hand, as mentioned above, the relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan and then back to the Blue House is expected to cost a total of 130 billion won, and some media outlets have been critical of this.
In addition, in an editorial dated the 25th of last month, the Chosun Ilbo pointed out that "There are many voices saying that if the presidential office were to return to this place (Cheong Wa Dae) which is open to many people, it would cause problems in terms of security."
However, he added, "The martial law imposed by former President Yoon was so unusual that there are not many voices opposing the Lee administration's return to the Blue House."