Presidential office cancels controversial guest house plan
Tourists stand in front of Yeongbingwan, a former state guest house located next to Cheong Wa Dae, the former presidential office, in Jongno District, Seoul, May 10. Joint Press CorpsYoon scraps construction plan after facing criticismBy Nam Hyun-wooThe presidential office is under fire for a plan to spend 87.9 billion won ($63 million) of the government budget to construct a new state guest house, which far exceeds President Yoon Suk-yeol's earlier promise on the costs for relocating his office. As criticisms mount, Yoon ordered his aides to scrap the plan, saying “the office failed to explain the reason to the public.”According to a Ministry of Economy and Finance document submitted to Rep. Han Byung-do of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), the ministry had allocated the amount for the construction of an annex to the presidential office, which would have been used for “receiving overseas guests and hosting various events.”The project would have started next year and finished in 2024. For next year alone, it would have required 49.7 billion
Sep 16, 2022By Nam Hyun-woo