KB News Desk
South Korea’s Defense Ministry has begun moving back into its former headquarters, marking a U-turn on one of the most visible changes made under former President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The ministry vacated the building in May 2022, when Yoon moved the presidential office from Cheong Wa Dae to the Defense Ministry compound in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. At the time, the ministry moved into the adjacent Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters.
The move back started on July 21 and is scheduled to conclude Aug. 14, when the defense minister’s office and other senior leadership offices are transferred.
Once completed, the Defense Ministry and the JCS will again use separate headquarters, restoring the arrangement in place before May 2022. Ministry units currently scattered across the Yongsan compound and nearby locations will be reorganized.
Yoon moved the presidential office to Yongsan as part of a pledge to open Cheong Wa Dae to the public. The former presidential compound opened to the public on May 10, 2022, the day Yoon took office. The relocation plan, however, faced criticism for its narrow timeline. The Defense Ministry was only given about a month to vacate its headquarters.
Public access to Cheong Wa Dae was suspended in August for security inspections and renovation work ahead of the presidential office’s return, and Lee, who took office on June 4, began working there in December.
The Defense Ministry’s move is being carried out in stages after months of preparation.
After the presidential office returned to Cheong Wa Dae, the government completed the necessary administrative procedures and carried out repairs and information technology work at the former ministry building.
The minister’s office and other command elements will move last to minimize disruption to military operations during the transition, according to ministry officials.
“Under the previous administration, the ministry had to move under intense time pressure to meet the presidential office’s schedule,” a ministry official said.
“This time, we have had sufficient time to prepare and are moving in stages.”
The government allocated 20.58 billion won ($14 million) from its general reserve fund for the relocation at a Cabinet meeting in April.
The budget includes 12.4 billion won for information and communications systems, 6.2 billion won for interior renovations and about 2 billion won for moving expenses.
The return also comes against the backdrop of the military’s involvement in Yoon’s Dec. 3, 2024, declaration of martial law, during which the adjacent JCS headquarters served as a key command site.
Soon after Yoon declared martial law, then-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun convened senior military officials in the building’s combat control room. Yoon later went to the headquarters after the National Assembly voted to demand that the decree be lifted.
In a command message marking his first year in office, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back also identified what he called “clearing away the legacy of the insurrection” as a central priority.
“The issue to which I have devoted the greatest attention since taking office has been clearing away the legacy of the insurrection,” Ahn said in the message released July 1.
“I will fulfill my duty as defense minister until the remaining tasks are completed swiftly and decisively, and our military is once again firmly grounded in the public’s trust.”
