Yongsan is not to blame

There was never anything wrong with the land or buildings in Yongsan. What matters is a president’s mindset and determination to communicate properly with the public, the opposition, the press and aides.

Seo Seung-wook

The author is the chief editor of digital content at the JoongAng Ilbo.

“Mr. President, why did you appoint Chung Un-chan as prime minister? The Park Geun-hye camp suspects it was a succession project.”

“No, no. Chung is from Gongju, South Chungcheong. I appointed him to properly fix the Sejong City plan. To get Sejong City right. It has nothing to do with the next election.”

It was one autumn night in 2009, during former President Lee Myung-bak's second year in office. At a secure residence near the Blue House, Lee sat face-to-face with a handful of reporters. I was among them. Over several rounds of makgeolli, candid questions and answers flowed about the issues shaking the political landscape. It was an off-the-record meeting between a sitting president and reporters. Even in an era when the Blue House was seen as a forbidding palace, such informal channels of communication existed.

The Blue House (Cheong Wa Dae) is seen in front of Mount Bugak in Jongno District, central Seoul, on July 30. [NEWS1]

There were also moments when Lee, after a weekend tennis match with acquaintances, dropped by the Chunchugwan Hall, the press building, to hold a surprise briefing. Photographs remain of him speaking with reporters in tennis attire, a towel draped around his neck.

This was not unique to Lee. Even during the presidency of Roh Moo-hyun, who maintained a tense relationship with conservative newspapers, there were occasions of communication at the official residence. Senior reporters would recount stories of sharing meals with the president and even smoking together, tales passed down to younger colleagues. The door to communication was narrow, but it was open.

The Blue House, 1 Cheongwadae-ro in Jongno District, central Seoul, has returned as the center of Korean politics. At midnight on Sunday, the phoenix flag was lowered at the presidential office in Yongsan and raised once again at the Blue House. The “presidential office” has disappeared, and everything is back under the name Blue House.

As noted, the Blue House had long symbolized political disconnection in Korea. Many in the media had treated relocation as a common cause. The 500 meters (1,640 feet) from the main building to the secretariat and another 300 meters to the press center at the Chunchugwan Hall were seen as physical barriers representing a lack of communication between the president, aides, power and the press. The presidential residence, hidden deep within the compound, reinforced the Blue House’s image as a remote island, isolated from public sentiment.

“The current Blue House has serious problems because the president’s office and aides are too far apart. It is overly authoritarian. Aides should be moving around right next to the boss. What kind of organization is this? Moving to Yongsan means the president can meet aides frequently and, if they are not doing their jobs, scold them on behalf of the people.”

That is what former President Yoon Suk Yeol was said to have told people around him when he decided in 2022 to relocate the presidential office to Yongsan. A former aide involved in the move testified that Yoon once said he would not have been able to leave the Blue House had he visited it before making the decision. The Blue House offered easy commutes, no prying eyes and an entirely secure zone. With the press center located far away, a president could easily play king. Even so, the aide said, Yoon chose Yongsan with a willingness to accept discomfort, reflecting a degree of self-sacrifice.

A view of the presidential office building in Yongsan, Seoul, photographed on March 11. [KIM HYUN-DONG]

All of that made sense. The problem was practice. It was Yoon himself who dismantled the Yongsan era he had opened. He halted doorstepping through illogical views and unilateral language. He stirred controversy over heavy drinking and late arrivals. He and his wife engaged in what critics described as playing king and queen. He sidelined aides who spoke frankly and ultimately pulled down the shutters on the Yongsan era through a delusional declaration of martial law.

There was never anything wrong with the land or buildings in Yongsan. What matters is a president’s mindset and determination to communicate properly with the public, the opposition, the press and aides. Yongsan, however, met the wrong tenant and is unlikely to escape its ignominious stigma for some time.

What, then, will the Blue House look like under President Lee Jae Myung? Just as the fate of the Yongsan presidential office rested with Yoon, everything now depends entirely on Lee.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.