Tag: Cheongwadae

Repairs aren’t what is needed at Cheongwadae, a thorough sweeping for listening devices is what is needed after being open to the public for so long:

Presidential contender Rep. Lee Jae-myung’s proposal to move the presidential office back to Cheong Wa Dae has reopened a divisive national debate — not only about public access to the symbolic site but also about how presidential power should be situated in Korea.

In the liberal Democratic Party of Korea’s first televised primary debate on Friday, Lee said that if he is elected, he would continue using the current presidential office in Yongsan District for the time being but move to Cheong Wa Dae “after necessary repairs are made.” 

He said he eventually wants to move the presidential office to Sejong City, the nation’s administrative capital. But he added that moving directly to Sejong is unrealistic at this point, calling Cheong Wa Dae “a feasible interim step.”

Korea Times

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.

Korea Herald

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.