Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Return to Cheong Wa Dae triggers wave of defense headquarters relocations
Trucks line up outside the Ministry of National Defense headquarters in Yongsan District, Seoul, May 5, 2022, as the ministry completes its move to make room for the relocation of the presidential office. Newsis
By Bahk Eun-ji
Defense ministry keeps plan under review, final date unconfirmed
The presidential office is moving ahead with its plan to return to Cheong Wa Dae by the end of this month, setting in motion a series of relocations involving the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
If the schedule holds, the two organizations are expected to move back into the buildings they occupied prior to the presidential office’s transfer to Yongsan in 2022. Military officials say this would restore the layout that existed three years and seven months ago, although the exact timetable has not yet been finalized.
According to defense officials, the ministry is preparing to return to the 10-story building in Yongsan that currently houses the presidential office. This building served as the ministry’s headquarters from 2003 until the Yoon Suk Yeol administration relocated the presidential office there shortly after taking office.
Since then, the ministry has been operating out of the adjacent JCS building and the two organizations have shared the facility for more than three years. Several ministry units and direct-reporting commands have also been dispersed across nearby sites due to limited space. Both entities have noted that communication has been less smooth since they began sharing a single building.
Officials say returning to the original arrangement would enable both the defense ministry and the JCS to operate more efficiently. JCS officials also say that their original headquarters already contains the necessary infrastructure for their operations, including secure networks and mission-support systems.
Although concerns have been raised about possible security gaps during the relocation, the JCS maintains that basic contingency measures are in place and that the existing network environment can be restored without major disruption.
Budget issues remain a key obstacle.
The ministry has requested 23.86 billion won ($16.2 million) for next year to cover network upgrades, facility repairs and moving costs. This includes 13.3 billion won for IT systems, 6.56 billion won for building repairs and 4 billion won for moving services.
Although the National Assembly’s defense committee initially approved the request, the amount was cut entirely during subsequent deliberations. If the relocation proceeds, the ministry is considering using reserve funds or other budget sources.
The cost of returning the presidential office to Cheong Wa Dae has also attracted attention.
Earlier government documents show that 25.9 billion won was allocated for the move, compared to the 37.8 billion won spent when the office moved to Yongsan in 2022. When indirect expenses related to both moves are included, analysts estimate that total spending over the past three years could exceed 130 billion won.
Despite these uncertainties, defense ministry officials say they expect the relocation to be completed sometime next year, depending on when the presidential office fully transitions back to Cheong Wa Dae.
A ministry official said the shift remains under review and that the government has not yet confirmed a final date. A JCS official noted that the organization will begin its own planning only after the ministry’s schedule is formally set.