The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Disgraced ex-minister's daughter says she feels proud, qualified as a doctor

  • 3

    Coupang reveals Asia's largest fulfillment center in Daegu

  • 5

    Ex-gov't employee summarily indicted for alleged attempt to sell Jungkook's lost hat

  • 7

    Tiger endures 3 years of solitary confinement in closed zoo

  • 9

    Netflix survival show 'Physical 100' attracts viewers with sweat, muscle and human story

  • 11

    Rescuers race against time as Turkey-Syria quake death toll passes 5,000

  • 13

    Ex-justice minister, daughter blamed for unrepentant attitude over academic fraud

  • 15

    INTERVIEW'Korea, US can create synergy in space industry': NASA ambassador

  • 17

    Seoul narrows in on new slogan

  • 19

    Turkey-Syria quake toll tops 11,000 as rescuers battle cold

  • 2

    Singer Lee Seung-gi to marry actor Lee Da-in in April

  • 4

    SM in internal feud over founder's exit from producing

  • 6

    'Celebrity forests' emerge as new K-pop trend in Seoul

  • 8

    Seoul city zeroes in on foreign residents' unpaid taxes

  • 10

    Korean Peninsula may face fallout from balloon saga

  • 12

    Peak Time: Survival show for lesser-known K-pop boy bands to hit air

  • 14

    SM founder Lee Soo-man returns home, in hospital to treat arm fracture

  • 16

    Apple confirms launch of Apple Pay in Korea

  • 18

    Chainsaw Fest set to rip apart Club SHARP

  • 20

    Korea to allow currency trading by offshore firms, extend market hours

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
Thu, February 9, 2023 | 11:16
Politics
INTERVIEWEx-lawmaker backs presidential relocation to Yongsan
Posted : 2022-03-20 16:40
Updated : 2022-03-20 16:45
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
                                                                                                 Cheong Wa Dae will be disappeared from history as President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol unveiled a plan on Sunday to relocate the presidential office into Yongsan, Seoul. / Yonhap
Cheong Wa Dae will be disappeared from history as President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol unveiled a plan on Sunday to relocate the presidential office into Yongsan, Seoul. / Yonhap

By Kang Hyun-kyung

                                                                                                 Cheong Wa Dae will be disappeared from history as President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol unveiled a plan on Sunday to relocate the presidential office into Yongsan, Seoul. / Yonhap
Former lawmaker Kim Young-woo / Courtesy of Kim Young-woo
Kim Young-woo, 55, a former three-term lawmaker who served as the chairman of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, presented a favorable view of the proposed relocation of the presidential office to the Ministry of National Defense compound amid heated debate.

If implemented as planned, Kim said the nation might benefit from moving to the site in Yongsan District.

"Considering the unique security challenges facing the nation, I think the new President working in a space adjacent to the office of the defense minister could be effective," he told The Korea Times over the phone.

His remarks about the unique security challenges refer to how South Koreans are living with increasing threats from North Korea.

Kim, however, warned of the possible fallout from a hasty relocation, saying that policymakers need to implement it with a thorough plan, after careful consideration of all related factors and risks it could entail.

"Someone (referring to the President-elect's spokesperson Kim Eun-hye) said that the relocation will be done 'before the spring flowers fall.' If they push it through on such a short timeline, significant procedural flaws will be unavoidable. I think they don't need to rush," he said.

The relocation of the presidential office and residence has emerged as one of the hotly debated post-election issues, as President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol reiterated that he has no intention to live and work in the current site, located in Jongno District behind Gyeongbok Palace at the foot of a mountain. Last Wednesday, spokesperson Kim told reporters that the chances of the new President beginning his work in the current Cheong Wa Dae are "zero."

On Sunday, Yoon unveiled a plan to relocate the presidential office and residence to Yongsan District, which would require the defense ministry to relocate to the current site of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be relocated in turn elsewhere.

Despite the President-elect's strong will to find an alternative location for the presidential office and residence, the relocation plan has faced criticism from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

In a statement, DPK chief spokesperson Koh Yong-jin called the relocation plan hasty, chaotic and contradictory. "It is highly doubtful that the Ministry of National Defense site is really a suitable place for public communication," he said, reproaching the President-elect's procedure for moving forward as unilateral.

Presidential office to move to Yongsan
Presidential office to move to Yongsan
2022-03-20 16:04  |  Politics

But ex-lawmaker Kim did not see it that way. He said the relocation could help the new President work more effectively as commander-in-chief as the location will make it easier for him to work closely with the defense minister in case of contingency.

He urged President Moon and the ruling DPK to support the relocation.

"President Moon had wanted to end the era for Cheong Wa Dae, but he couldn't do it. Then, isn't it right for him to help the new president finish the job?" he asked, referring to the Moon's 2017 pledge to move the presidential office and residence to Gwanghwamun.

Kim seemed mindful of a shift in South Korea's security environment following a series of tests of North Korea's increasingly sophisticated missile and nuclear capabilities.

Last week, President-elect Yoon named former Vice Foreign Minister Kim Sung-han, former presidential secretary on national security strategy Kim Tae-hyo, and Gen. Lee Jong-sup, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as the transition committee members to handle foreign policy and security. The media dubbed Yoon's picks of the three as "the Return of the MB men." "MB" stands for the first name of the conservative former President Lee Myung-bak. The three all served under the Lee administration.

Kim said that Yoon and his foreign policy team will be working under fresh pressure to thwart security threats from North Korea, mainly because there have been significant changes in North Korea's military capabilities since the 2008-13 Lee Myung-bak administration.

Kim said the foreign policy team under the Yoon government will need to bolster the South Korea-U.S. alliance as stressed by the President-elect several times during his campaign, as well as restore close ties with "like-minded countries" such as free democracies to better handle security threats posed by North Korea.

Joining the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, known as the Quad, is one of the options the new government should consider seriously, he said.

The Quad is a United States-led strategic security dialogue among three countries in the Indo―Pacific region ― Australia, India, and Japan ― and is maintained by talks between member countries.

Kim's remarks on joining the Quad seem to refer to formalizing South Korea's membership in the Quad Plus, a broader network of like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific region. Some of the countries that have been named for the Quad Plus are South Korea, New Zealand and Vietnam.

"The Quad members are countries that share a lot of values with South Korea. They are free democracies and value human rights, so having partnerships with those countries would help the nation gain support from them in a time of crisis," Kim said.

The former lawmaker said emphasized the significance of forging new security partnerships with like-minded countries, in light of what's happening in Ukraine.

Kim claimed that Ukraine is in a lonely fight to protect itself from Russian invasion, partly because the East European country had no official security alliance with other countries. "Many countries are cheering for Ukraine, but few countries give them real help other than diplomatic rhetoric," he said.

Regarding the limited roles of the United States and European countries in helping war-torn Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden explained that third countries' direct involvement in the confrontation could trigger World War III and that the expansion of the war is one reason the U.S. government cannot send troops to Ukraine.

Emailhkang@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
Top 10 Stories
1Korean Peninsula may face fallout from balloon saga Korean Peninsula may face fallout from balloon saga
2[PHOTOS] Turkey-Syria earthquake PHOTOSTurkey-Syria earthquake
3Daughter-centered photos, title of honor reinforce speculation over North Korea succession Daughter-centered photos, title of honor reinforce speculation over North Korea succession
4[INTERVIEW] 'Growth slowdown can accelerate depletion of retirement pension fund' INTERVIEW'Growth slowdown can accelerate depletion of retirement pension fund'
5SM's management dispute to benefit KakaoSM's management dispute to benefit Kakao
6National Assembly votes to impeach interior minister for Itaewon tragedy National Assembly votes to impeach interior minister for Itaewon tragedy
7SM6 Feel attracts customers with popular options, low price SM6 Feel attracts customers with popular options, low price
8Philip Morris seeks to surpass KT&G in e-cigarette market Philip Morris seeks to surpass KT&G in e-cigarette market
9[INTERVIEW] Veteran US photographer gives environment 'visual voice' to chronicle climate change INTERVIEWVeteran US photographer gives environment 'visual voice' to chronicle climate change
10Korean companies move to support victims in earthquake-hit Turkey, Syria Korean companies move to support victims in earthquake-hit Turkey, Syria
Top 5 Entertainment News
1Decoding success factors of NewJeans: How is it different? Decoding success factors of NewJeans: How is it different?
2SM in internal feud over founder's exit from producing SM in internal feud over founder's exit from producing
3The Boyz member Hyunjae apologizes for wearing hat with Rising Sun flag design The Boyz member Hyunjae apologizes for wearing hat with Rising Sun flag design
4Peak Time: Survival show for lesser-known K-pop boy bands to hit air Peak Time: Survival show for lesser-known K-pop boy bands to hit air
5K-pop stars and dating K-pop stars and dating
DARKROOM
  • [PHOTOS] Turkey-Syria earthquake

    [PHOTOS] Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group