Presidential Office to Spend 87.8 Billion Won to Build a New State Guest House in Yongsan

The state guest house in Cheongwadae in Jongno-gu, Seoul, disclosed to the public in May after the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol government. Courtesy of the Cultural Heritage Administration

On September 15, it was confirmed that the Office of the President was planning to spend over 80 billion won of the nation’s budget to build a new state guest house to receive important state visitors and host events.

According to the National Property Management Fund Budget for 2022, which Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Han Byung-do received from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the government estimated 87,863,000,000 won in operating expenses for the construction of main and attached facilities of the Office of the President to receive foreign guests and host various events.

The project will be overseen by the presidential office and the project period was set for two years from 2023. They allocated 49,746,000,000 won for the project in next year’s budget alone.

The finance ministry stated, “There is a need for attachments near the presidential office to support the stable management of state affairs, including receptions and events for foreign guests.”

The construction of a new presidential guest house in Yongsan is necessary because the existing guest house in Cheongwadae can no longer be used now that the presidential office has been relocated. On March 20, when President Yoon Suk-yeol was president-elect, he said, “We can build the state guest house when we receive all of Yongsan Park back (from the U.S. Forces). We can construct a building like the Blair House in Washington D.C.” He also said, “When we have to receive important foreign guests, I think we can use the state guest house or main building in Cheongwadae for events like a state dinner.”

Earlier, the Office of the President announced that it would spend 49.6 billion won in reserves for the relocation of the presidential office. According to the government budget appropriations for the second quarter this year, which were released last month, the incumbent government spent an additional 30 billion won from the budget set aside for other government ministries, such as the police food service expenses, on relocating the presidential office.

The Office of the President in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Yonhap News Archives

The spokesperson for the Office of the President sent out a notice to the press this day and explained, “After returning Cheongwadae to the public and moving the presidential office to Yongsan, we held events for domestic and foreign guests at the Defense Convention Center, but many pointed out that it did not fit the status of our nation.” The notice further explained that the presidential office made a suggestion to the National Assembly concerning the need to build new attachments, for the National Assembly had the authority to make the final decision on the nation’s budget. It also said, “When the budget is finalized, we will transparently disclose related costs to the people.”