Moon Administration Warns Against Moving Presidential Office to the Ministry of Defense
President Elect Yoon is going to see a full pressure campaign to get him to stop the move to the Ministry of Defense. It doesn’t matter where you work, established interests are always hesitant to embrace change:
The office of President Moon Jae-in voiced concerns Monday about President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s plan to move the presidential office out of Cheong Wa Dae, saying it could leave a security vacuum at a time of rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Park Soo-hyun, senior presidential secretary for public communication, made the remark to reporters after a National Security Council meeting, saying it is unreasonable to relocate the defense ministry, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the presidential office in such a short period of time before Yoon’s May 10 inauguration.
“Now is the time to unite security capabilities, as the security crisis on the Korean Peninsula is escalating,” Park said. “Therefore, it is necessary to look sufficiently into concern that sudden, unprepared relocations of the defense ministry, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Cheong Wa Dae crisis management center could cause a security vacuum and confusion.”
Park said Cheong Wa Dae will convey its concerns to Yoon’s transition team.
Yoon’s spokesperson expressed regret and said they will stick to the relocation plans.
“If President Moon Jae-in refuses to cooperate on an essential part of the most significant project in the transfer of power, there is no way to force him,” Kim Eun-hye said in a statement.
Upon taking office, she said, Yoon will continue to work from his current temporary office in Tongeui-dong near Cheong Wa Dae to handle pressing state affairs, making clear once again that Yoon will not move into Cheong Wa Dae.
“At the stroke of midnight on May 10, President-elect Yoon will fulfill his promise to fully open Cheong Wa Dae without fail,” she added.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
GIKorea has been curiously silent on the implications of Yoon’s move to the MND in terms of potential disruptions to the command and control of the ROK military and coordination with the USFK at a time when the DPRK is firing missiles and trying to increase tensions.
And that from a person who previously had criticized the leftists for their ignorance of security of the ROK and advocated the stationing of a second THAAD battery.
OK some may say that government departments can move depending on the situation.
True.
But we are talking about a department that not only has thousands of employees and sensitive documents but specialized command and control and communication equipment. which had the original plan gone through, would have to move to four different buildings in twenty days, as in building musical chairs.
Why twenty days you ask?
Because a month was needed to redecorate the MND building for Presidential purposes which meant the current occupants had to vacate the premises by early April.
And yes the MND had moved before and so has the Korean JCS, but those processes were planned well in advance with sufficient time given for a smooth and non-dsruptive move.
Since everything is being rushed and compressed, in terms of the command and control and communication equipment I wouldn’t be surprised if there were jury-rigs and temporary setups applied to make sure they were up and running by April.
And knowing the DPRK, it wouldn’t be surprising if they used this period of temporary flux of the military command and control system to their advantage.
Even some members of Yoon’s transition team suggested that Yoon take it slow and stay in the Blue House for one year and then move to the MND. Even the idea of a Presidential office in Sejong came up with Yoon stating that he “wanted to hold regular cabinet meetings in Sejong.”
But for some reason, the guy is desperate to not enter the Blue House.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m for Yoon changing the Presidential office and how it works. But there are better and more sensible ways to doing this and considering the problems this nation is facing, it’s not that urgent a matter.
And on a somewhat lighter note, thanks to Yoon we now know the location of MND’s command bunker.
Translated from a YTN news article.
President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol directly announced plans to relocate the Presidential Office.
Referring to the Defense Ministry’s underground bunker, he also gestures as if pointing to the location.
[Yoon Seok-yeol / President-elect: There is an underground bunker here too, and there is an underground bunker here too, and in case of an emergency, all passages are connected below here, so in case of an emergency, you can do NSC right here.]
https://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0101_202203220503091761
Call comes in at 2am.
“Yo, Yoon. Tell the MOD they have to go. You are moving in.”
“Are you crazy? Do you know how much disruption and bad press that will cause?”
“Hey, that’s the deal. You are the one who wanted to be president. You knew what you were getting into. You still want to keep those pictures secret, right? She was pretty young.”
—
“Yo, Kim. The SK MOD will be moving. Give ’em hell.”
—
“Yo, Xi. Get your act together to invade Taiwan and await further instructions.”
The Reticulans living in a subbasement of the Denver Airport are not stupid.
Tok, GI Korea was so silent on this subject that he posted the article that you are commenting on now.
GI Korea was so silent on this subject that he posted the article that you are commenting on now.
You do realize that GIKorea and your creator Setnaffova will sell their souls to the devil in order to keep the USFK in Korea forever.
So of course GI will be silent on the subject!
He has been waiting for five long years for a president who is much more agreeable to the idea of keeing US troops on the peninsula forever.
Now he has gotten what he wished for, he is not going to criticize Yoon.
He would rather look the other way while Yoon makes a mess of things with Korea instead of seeing US troops leave the peninsula.
So to summarize.
Stop asking obvious questions, my dear Slav.