President Moon Jae-in said on the 26th that “the current government’s (president) office relocation plan is not very good,” and “I think it is dangerous.”
In the second episode of the special interview with former anchor Sohn Seok-hee (Interview with Moon Jae-in’s 5 years), which was aired on JTBC this afternoon, President Moon talked about the office relocation plan promoted by President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol, saying, “Relocating the office is a century of the nation’s history. Without even trying to collect public opinion, whether it is a small number or not, it is something like, ‘Get out of the room, we will start our mission on May 10’ until the end of March during the regime change period when the security crisis is at its height,” he said.
He continued, “It is necessary to fully discuss where the enemy will be and if it is judged that it is not suitable, let the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff come up with a plan to move stably, and then move the office according to the plan.” It is very difficult to accept the decision and the way things are handled,” he said.
“However, as the new government has a will and is pursuing it as a national task, it cannot lead to a major conflict between the old and the new, so the Korean government is forced to cooperate at least in the line of minimizing the gap in national security,” he added.
When former anchor Sohn pointed out that ‘moving the office was also a promise of President Moon’, he countered, “It’s different from the current president-elect’s move to a barrel.”
President Moon said, “The reason I decided to move the presidential office and secretariat to the Gwanghwamun Government Complex is that if the Ministry of Public Administration and Security moves to Sejong City, they can enter the space, and even after the main building, guesthouse, heliport, and underground bunger crisis center are open to the public, there is still room for improvement,” said President Moon. It was a concept used by the Blue House,” he added.
When asked if there were any intentions to force the relocation to Gwanghwamun despite opposition, he replied, “I think I made a very good decision. I think it was a good thing that I made that decision without being bound by promises.”
The reason for this was to the effect that it was decided that there was no need to cause confusion in terms of cost and administration in a situation in which the image of the Blue House as the ‘Gujung Palace’ during the Park Geun-hye administration had largely disappeared.
In addition, when asked if he would move to Gwanghwamun, President Moon said, “Gwanghwamun is a little different now. It is something that can be moved by minimizing the cost.”
He added, “Now that all other government agencies are in the space, we have to get them all out. “The situation has changed, but there will be fewer concerns about security than relocating the Ministry of National Defense or the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”
President Moon explained that it was due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), etc. At the same time, he said, “I think that the more communication, the better.” “I should have put in more effort so that I would not be evaluated for lack of communication, but that point cannot be denied. I just want you to know the circumstances of that (effort).”
President Moon also said, “If communication is lacking, it’s something I couldn’t do, so what has that to do with the Blue House? Would that make sense?”
He continued, “Now that the elected president is showing very good communication skills, I want to communicate actively as much as I want. It is a matter of will, not the place where I am.”
(Seoul = News 1)