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| President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden / Yonhap |
By Kang Seung-woo
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's resolute adherence to his plan to move Cheong Wa Dae even after being inaugurated, May 10, has led to an unforeseen problem: where to hold a summit and dine with U.S. President Joe Biden during his visit to Korea.
Yoon wants to relocate the presidential office to the compound of the defense ministry before taking office. But he is set to take the unprecedented step of starting work out of his temporary office in Tongui-dong near Cheong Wa Dae after inauguration due to controversy over an excessively hasty, major relocation while President Moon Jae-in's term lasts until May 9.
Cabinet approval is needed to fund the relocation project and, despite expert opinions that the process would take a minimum of several years to carry out, his transition team argues that the move could be completed by June.
There are growing concerns over ill-prepared protocols for the leader of Korea's most important ally as Biden is expected to visit Seoul in late May on the occasion of his trip to Japan for a Quad summit with his Japanese, Australian and Indian counterparts.
"Should Yoon meet Biden at his temporary office, security problems could occur," a government official said on condition of anonymity.
"In addition, holding their first summit amid a fragile security situation, with the well-protected presidential office still being there, may look peculiar," the official added.
As an alternative, Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, suggested they sit down together at the hotel where Biden will stay ― a familiar setting for a head of state while on an overseas trip.
"It might not be a big problem as such meetings are frequently held between leaders," Park said.
"However, it will not look nice for them to meet at an inappropriate venue that is not Cheong Wa Dae, the symbolic presidential office ― an issue that the transition team will agonize over," he said.
When announcing his plan on March 20 to relocate the presidential office and residence, Yoon hinted at the possibility of meeting state guests at the main building of Cheong Wa Dae and serving them at its state reception house, called Yeongbingwan, although he wants to "return the presidential office to the people."
However, even in that case, it would be the first time for a foreign leader to be welcomed there while Cheong Wa Dae is completely open to the public, so there are concerns about unexpected chaos and security issues.
Also, when an American president visits Korea, an advance team from the U.S. usually conducts a preliminary inspection two or three weeks ahead of the trip. But if Yoon pushes ahead with his plan to relocate the presidential office, there are concerns about disorder arising during the actual visit of the U.S. leader.
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