Yoon's inauguration ushers in era of Yongsan

President Yoon Suk-yeol's office at former headquarters of the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul's Yongsan District, Monday. Yonhap

By Ko Dong-hwan

• Published May 9, 2022 5:17 PM KST
• Updated May 10, 2022 8:12 AM KST

Yoon to start presidency with briefing by Joint Chiefs of Staff at Monday midnight

By Ko Dong-hwan

President Yoon Suk-yeol will start his first day at the top job of the government very differently from that of his predecessors: his office is no longer in the secluded foothills of Mount Bugak. Instead, it's at the center of Seoul's crowded downtown Yongsan District near Samgakji subway station, an election promise emphasizing his willingness to make himself and his office open to the public.

With the start of his term at the former headquarters of the national defense ministry in the bustling district, Cheong Wa Dae, which has been the office and residence of the country's presidents since 1948, becomes a public venue for tourists.

The Era of Yongsan begins at midnight on Monday with Yoon receiving a phone briefing from the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the commander-in-chief at an underground bunker beneath his office building. The briefing signals the transfer of the country's military command from former president Moon Jae-in to Yoon.

The bunker, under the Yoon administration, will also serve as the situation room of the national crisis management center. The control room had existed below Cheong Wa Dae and was used only during imminent national crises until the presidential office was relocated to Yongsan.

Before Tuesday's inauguration at the National Assembly, Yoon will drop by the Seoul National Cemetery to pay homage to buried patriots. The inauguration begins at 11 a.m. and will continue for about an hour. His speech will comprise keywords, such as freedom, human rights, free market, fairness and alliance, according to those who are familiar with its content.

Declining a car parade, which often accompanied inaugurated presidents, Yoon is expected to move to Yongsan shortly after the event and visit a community house for local elders as well as a city park for children. The rest of the day's schedule for Yoon includes attending an afternoon ceremony at the National Assembly and a dinner party with guests at Shilla Hotel in central Seoul.

The guest list includes National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug, Chief of Justice Kim Myeong-soo, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, Constitutional Court President Yoo Nam-seok, National Election Commission Chairperson Noh Jeong-hee and the heads of the country's big 5 conglomerates ―Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, SK, LG and Lotte.

Yoon met foreign dignitaries on Monday. Japan's former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and British Minister of State for Asia and the Middle East Amanda Milling are also expected to meet Yoon. The United States' second gentleman Doug Emhoff, China's Vice President Wang Qishan and Singaporean President Halimah Yacob are also among those in the country for state visits.

Presidential life in Yongsan

The president was unyielding in regards to his aim of relocating his office to Yongsan not only because he wanted to vacate Cheong Wa Dae for the public, but mainly because he wanted to get away from a place that he said shrouds an incumbent president with a sense of autocracy and discourages effective communication between the country's leader and his aides inside the office. It was Cheong Wa Dae's architectural style that divided spaces used by a president and staff members instead of connecting them, as Yoon pointed out.

“Space dominates consciousness,” said Yoon, as one of the reasons behind his relocation plan. “I will dismantle the existing organization and working styles inside the presidential office.”

Yoon said he wanted to work closely with his aides “in a mess” around the clock without spatial obstructions. That's why he dismissed using an elevator reserved for himself inside the office building as one of the measures to stay close to presidential staff members.

In the 10-story building, Yoon's main office is on the second floor and the sub-office is on the fifth floor. The second floor will also have a large hall suitable for hosting events with up to 200 guests. The third floor will be occupied by five presidential secretaries.

Security officers, presidential staff members and other officials will be on floors four to 10. The first floor is for journalists covering the president. It was Yoon's intention to differentiate his office from the “divided working spaces” at Cheong Wa Dae by setting up offices all under one roof.

Outside the building, the existing high stonewalls surrounding it will be replaced with 2.4 meter-high fences that allow passers-by to take a peek inside ― which, according to the presidential transition committee, resembles the U.S. White House.

Security around the area will also be less conspicuous to members of the public by stationing casually-clad security officials around the area and equipping the fences with AI systems detecting metal and heat. It was Yoon's wish to make the atmosphere less hostile to the public, opting for “open security” methods over “segregation and prevention” methods that were traditionally enforced by armed officials.

Yoon also wants to reclaim the former United States Forces Korea military base located across from his office and turn it into a park open to the public. But the bid requires environmental inspection inside the base which is expected to have been polluted with oil and chemicals. Environmental experts said treating the problem requires at least seven years and until then, turning the base into a park will create health risks.