Defense ministry seeks $16 mil. to cover cost of move back to Yongsan

The Ministry of National Defense is requesting an additional 23.86 billion won ($16.2 million in next year's budget to help cover its return to its former headquarters in Yongsan as the presidential office is set to move back to the Cheong Wa Dae compound. Rep. Kang Dae-sik of the ruling People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, said the defense ministry informed lawmakers that relocating its offices along with those of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will be necessary once the presidential office returns to Cheong Wa Dae. When former President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in May 2022, he relocated the presidential office from Cheong Wa Dae in central Seoul to the former Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan. The move was presented as a break from what critics called the “imperial presidency” of Cheong Wa Dae and a way to reopen the historic compound to the public. To accommodate the transition, the Yongsan facility underwent extensive renovations in 2022, including upgraded communications systems, expanded media rooms and enhanced securWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times