Photo: The Blue House, c. 2020. Credit: Office of the President.
On November 11, the Office of the President 대통령실 said it would move back to the Blue House 청와대 before Christmas, returning to the compound that had housed the presidential office and residence ever since the South Korean government was established in 1948. The presidential residence will remain outside of the Blue House until late 2026, however, with the presidential office citing additional security concerns arising from the fact that the Blue House residence was used as a tourist attraction for the past three years.
The relocation of the presidential office from the Blue House to the current site in Yongsan 용산 was the first and one of the most controversial decisions by former president Yoon Suk-yeol 윤석열, who took office in 2022. (See previous coverage, “Yoon Evicts Defense Ministry.”) Yoon’s move, which also included relocating the presidential residence to the former residence of the Foreign Minister, threatened more than the relevance of this newsletter’s name.
The highly exposed Yongsan compound was subject to North Korean drone incursions, as well as trash-laden balloons lofted south by Pyongyang that landed within the presidential office grounds. The transfer of police forces to Yoon’s presidential residence was a direct cause of the lack of dedicated safety personnel at that year’s annual Halloween street party in nearby Itaewon 이태원, leading to a crushing incident that killed 159.
