It is moving day for the Yoon family:
Former President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to leave the presidential residence Friday to return to his private residence in southern Seoul, officials said Thursday, following his removal from office last week.
“Yoon plans to leave the official residence at 5 p.m. Friday move to his private residence,” a senior presidential official said in a press notice.
The Presidential Security Service (PSS) has reportedly completed organizing a private residence security team of about 40 people for Yoon. Under the current law, Yoon can receive protection from the PSS for up to 10 years.
Yoon’s private residence is located at the Acrovista apartment complex in Seocho-dong, southern Seoul, and he previously stayed there for six months even after his presidential inauguration in May 2022.
Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, are reportedly considering moving to another private residence in the capital area later because they own as many as 11 pet dogs and cats and the presence of security guards may cause some inconveniences for neighbors.
It seems like it would be tough for a former President to live in an apartment building because of the impact all the security requirements would have on their neighbors. It makes sense they would likely try and find house to live in that would not cause so impact to neighbors like living in an apartment would cause.
Here is the latest on USFK’s now operational plan to counter North Korea:
South Korea and the United States signed a new joint wartime operations plan (OPLAN) last year to counter evolving North Korean military threats, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea said Wednesday.
Gen. Xavier Brunson made the remarks in a written statement to the House Armed Services Committee, as Seoul and Washington have been deepening security coordination to deal with advancing North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile threats. He also leads South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) and U.N. Command.
“Last year, we took a significant step forward in our combat readiness when the new combined Operations Plan was signed,” Brunson said.
You can read more at the link.
It sure seems like the North Korean military makes a lot of “mistakes” crossing the MDL:
This file photo, provided by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on March 27, 2025, shows North Korean troops repairing fences at the eastern border.
South Korea’s military said Tuesday it fired warning shots at a group of North Korean soldiers who briefly crossed the military demarcation line (MDL) inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas.
About 10 armed North Korean soldiers returned to the North after the South Korean military aired warning broadcasts and fired warning shots in an eastern front-line area at around 5 p.m., according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The JCS said South Korea’s military is “closely monitoring the movement of the North Korean military and taking necessary measures in accordance with the operational procedures.”
The JCS said it suspects the North Korean soldiers’ border crossing occurred accidentally while they were conducting a regular patrol.
You can read more at the link.
Trump has executed his usual playbook of making an extreme demand and then settling on what he really wanted and everyone claims he backed down:
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday lowered “reciprocal” tariffs on South Korea and other trading partners to 10 percent in what he called a pause that will last for 90 days, while increasing duties on China to 125 percent following China’s retaliatory move.
In a social media post, Trump made the announcement as reciprocal tariffs went into effect on the day, with dozens of countries striving to negotiate deals over new levies. Last week, his administration unveiled 25 percent tariffs on South Korea, 24 percent on Japan and 20 percent on the European Union, to name a few.
You can read more at the link.
Anyone surprised by this news that Lee Jae-myung now that he is favored to win the Presidency is now no longer interested in limiting Presidential powers?:
The People Power Party on Monday backed National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik’s proposal to hold a referendum on amending the Constitution to reduce the president’s power on the same day as the early presidential election, highly likely slated for June 3.
Rep. Kwon Young-se, the People Power party’s leader, said the public consensus on reforming the country’s power structure was ripe in the wake of the impeachment crisis.
“We have witnessed the risks of a president having all the powers of the state,” Kwon said, alluding to former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s imposition of martial law in December last year.
But Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party chair remains convinced that the Yoon’s “insurrection” is still ongoing, and countering it should take priority.
Lee, who has a clear lead in the polls for to be the next president, said that while amending the Constitution and developing democracy were important, “putting an end to Yoon Suk Yeol’s insurrection should come first.”
“I think we all recognize the necessity of having a revised Constitution. But right now, nothing takes precedence over the task of stopping Yoon’s bid to destroy democracy,” Lee said.
This has to be the lamest excuse that Lee could come up with because Yoon has had no power for months and was officially removed from office last week. There is no more Yoon to oppose.
We all know the real reason that Lee now is uninterested in limitiing Presidential powers now that Yoon is gone:
A People Power Party lawmaker on the Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the Democratic Party, thinking it has a better chance at winning the coming election, might be less willing to accept a constitutional amendment that would take away some of the president’s powers.
“Lee Jae-myung himself has spoken on the need for constitutional reform several times in the past. But now with the presidency in sight, he would be less willing to embrace a reform plan that could limit his powers if he is elected,” he said.
You can read more at the link.
I was never a big fan of moving the Presidential office to Yongsan and it appears who ever the new Korean President ends up being, it will move yet again:
Following the removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, many are wondering if the next administration might relocate the presidential office, currently located in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, back to the previous location of Cheong Wa Dae, also known as the Blue House, or to a new site.
“Regardless of which party takes power, I think the majority of the public is unlikely to agree with the presidential office remaining in Yongsan in the long term,” said Rep. Kim Min-seok, a senior leader of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea, appearing on a radio program Tuesday.
He added that the ousted Yoon had not allowed sufficient public discussion when he moved the top office out of Cheong Wa Dae to Yongsan.
You can read more at the link, but I believe they should just move it back to Cheongwadae. It is a beautiful complex in the heart of Seoul, but would need to have a major security scan done since it has been open to the public for so long. When it opened to the public I made sure to go and visit Cheongwadae because I figured the Presidential office would eventually move back there. It was pretty cool to be able to mostly freely walk around an area that had for the longest time been closed to the public. I will need to post pictures of the visit when I get a chance.
