尹Government 100 Days ② First Commuting President Yongsan Era

‘President and Yongsan’ Destiny Community… Risks in the will to communicate on the way to work
On the 21st of this month, I moved into the Hannam-dong official residence… Will ‘trial and error’ end in Yongsan era?

On the 17th, the ‘Yongsan Era’ will mark its 100th day.

It also means that the 100th day of President Yoon Seok-yeol’s ‘political experiment’, which moved the stage of government affairs from the existing Blue House to Yongsan, under the guise of an authoritarian liquidation, saying, “Space rules consciousness.”

The Yongsan Presidential Office Building, which opened on May 10 with the inauguration of President Yoon, gave President Yoon the ‘first’ in many ways.

It was the first time in constitutional history that a president commuted from home, had a press room in close proximity to the presidential office, and regularly answered questions (door stepping) on ​​the way to work.

It is also an attempt to take on the burden of the president’s commuting time and movement, which had not been disclosed before.

It may become a ‘tradition’ that continues into the next government.

However, as unrefined remarks came out in a question and answer session on the way to work and became controversial, some pointed out that de-authorization and communication would once more become a risk factor that puts a burden on state affairs.

While the occupancy of the official residence in Hannam-dong has not yet taken place, the opposition is attempting to address the issue of disaster response in the era of ‘post-Blue House’ over President Yoon’s recent phone call to respond to heavy rain from his home in Seocho-dong.

It is observed that the success or failure of the Yongsan era, when the contrasts have been made over the past 100 days, will soon be directly related to the success or failure of the Yun Seok-yeol government.

◇ Yongsan Government Complex, where the office, secretariat, and press rooms are all in one place
The Yongsan Presidential Office, which was previously located in the Ministry of National Defense, is a place where the president’s office, the secretariat’s office, press room, meeting/reception room, and security/police manpower space are gathered.

This is in contrast to the existing Blue House, which was distributed in several buildings including the main building, Chunchugwan (reporter’s office), Yeomingwan (secretary office work building), and the guesthouse.

In the early days of his inauguration, the interior remodeling was not complete, so construction continued in various places.

In May, when US President Joe Biden held the Korea-US summit at the government building less than two weeks following the inauguration of the new government, the construction of the second floor, where the ‘main office’ was located, had not been completed.

Currently, most of the space has been completed, and the employees of the President’s Office have also completed the ‘adaptation period’.

An official from the presidential office said on the 14th, “As the president and the staff of the secretariat are staying in the same space all day, I feel that the work reporting system and working method are quite flexible.”

There is a press room and a briefing room under the presidential office on the second floor.

When President Yoon enters the lobby on the first floor, reporters can see him commuting to and from work at any time.

Occasionally, I witness people stopping by to meet President Yoon in private.

In accordance with President Yoon’s ‘strengthening communication’ guidelines, the chief secretary or secretaries of the presidential office in each field also frequently come down to the first floor to hold briefings.

However, some point out that the symbolism given by the Blue House cannot be ignored.

It is not without public opinion that the appearance of Yongsan Government Complex, which looks like an ordinary government office building, does not fully reveal ‘national dignity’ when welcoming foreign guests including foreign heads of state.

◇ Q&A on the way to work that changes through trial and error
Questions and answers on the way to work have become a symbol of the Yongsan era.

When President Yoon enters through the lobby on the first floor, the waiting reporters are free to ask questions.

It is literally a ‘freestyle’ format.

Compared to the previous question-and-answer between the president and the press, which was conducted through a limited number and format, such as a formal press conference, it was evaluated as an ‘extraordinary attempt’.

Professor Shin Yul of Myongji University said in a phone call, “In the long term, door stepping has more positive aspects than negative aspects.

However, in the current presidential system, where the direction of state affairs is governed by a single president’s soil, some unrefined remarks may lead to political battles and confusion.

Park Sang-byeong, a professor at Inha University’s Graduate School of Policy Studies, said, “The Yongsan era has a point to be applauded by the people,” but “door stepping has many negative aspects.

“The government task is not something that can be said in a matter of minutes, and I lacked the preparation or capacity to try it,” he said.

As the need to improve door stepping was raised within the presidential office amid a recent decline in approval ratings, President Yoon also began to change the way he answered questions on his way to work.

At the beginning of the Q&A on the way to work, he received at most 7-8 questions, but now he receives 2 or 3 questions, and President Yoon moves to the office.

In addition, prior to the Q&A, President Yoon started to manage the message by giving brief remarks on major issues.

Recently, she maintains a certain tone and expression, exposing her refined appearance as much as possible.

◇ The ‘commuting risk’ caused by heavy rain… Moved into Hannam-dong official residence in August
The remaining task of the Yongsan era is moving into the ‘Hannam-dong government residence’.

It is reported that President Yoon and his wife will move into the new presidential residence in and out of Hannam-dong, inside and outside of the official residence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the 21st.

It is reported that President Yoon recently stopped by the new official residence on his way home from work and did a last-minute inspection.

The opposition also launched an offensive that President Yoon Seok-yeol was isolated at his home in Seocho-dong during the torrential rain on the 10th and might not act as a control tower.

The president’s office countered that “the place where the president is is the situation room” and that President Yoon made an all-out effort to respond to the torrential rains through phone instructions from his home in Seocho-dong.

However, in the case of the existing Blue House, a 1 minute distance from the official residence to the crisis management center and 5 minutes to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters continued.

If the move-in to the Hannam-dong official residence is completed, it is expected that the time for President Yoon to travel to the National Crisis Management Center in Yongsan’s Presidential Office will decrease in case of an emergency.

In the meantime, if the traffic control from the Seocho-dong residence to the Yongsan office took close to 10 minutes, it is expected that it will take regarding 5 minutes, half the time from the Hannam-dong official residence to the office.

Since there is no need to cross the Han River, the impact on general traffic flow will be greatly reduced, according to officials from the presidential office.

/yunhap news