Tag: Yoon Suk-yeol

I hope President Yoon is ready for disappointment because North Korea is not going to denuclearize. Why would they? The best he can hope for is that North Korea pretends to denuclearize in return for economic incentives:

President Yoon Suk-yeol took the oath of office Tuesday, vowing to rebuild the nation on the foundation of a liberal democracy and market economy and offering to revive North Korea’s economy with an “audacious plan” should it take steps to denuclearize.

In his inauguration address at the National Assembly Plaza, Yoon outlined various challenges facing the country and the world from pandemics and rearrangements in global supply chains to record-low growth and rising unemployment. (….)

“While North Korea’s nuclear weapon programs are a threat not only to our security and that of Northeast Asia, the door to dialogue will remain open so that we can peacefully resolve this threat,” Yoon said in his inaugural speech.

“If North Korea genuinely embarks on a process to complete denuclearization, we are prepared to work with the international community to present an audacious plan that will vastly strengthen North Korea’s economy and improve the quality of life for its people,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The new ROK President has been inaugurated and as promised has begun his term by moving the presidential office to Yongsan:

President Yoon Suk-yeol will start his first day at the top job of the government very differently from that of his predecessors: his office is no longer in the secluded foothills of Mount Bugak. Instead, it’s at the center of Seoul’s crowded downtown Yongsan District near Samgakji subway station, an election promise emphasizing his willingness to make himself and his office open to the public.

With the start of his term at the former headquarters of the national defense ministry in the bustling district, Cheong Wa Dae, which has been the office and residence of the country’s presidents since 1948, becomes a public venue for tourists.

The Era of Yongsan begins at midnight on Monday with Yoon receiving a phone briefing from the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the commander-in-chief at an underground bunker beneath his office building. The briefing signals the transfer of the country’s military command from former president Moon Jae-in to Yoon. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

None of this is actually surprising to people who have been paying attention:

The incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration finds itself in hot water over its policy roadmap for the next five years, as some of his key election pledges ― disbanding the gender equality ministry, raising soldiers’ salaries and deploying additional U.S. missile systems in South Korea ― have been missing from a list of key tasks.

Those pledges were used as catchy slogans throughout Yoon’s presidential election campaign, after his Facebook postings that promoted such ideas grabbed voters’ attention despite their low feasibility. As the pledges were exempt from the roadmap, however, the Yoon administration faces growing criticism for backing down from its pledges. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the Gender Ministry is not going any where because Yoon’s party does not control the National Assembly to actual make its abolishment law. As we have discussed before here on the ROK Drop the Yoon administration had talked of purchasing a THAAD battery. However, this is not something you just go to a car dealership and buy. This is a multi-year long process to purchase, build the battery, and train personnel for billions of dollars. As far as paying troops more that is a huge bill that means money needs to be taken from so where else when the current Moon administration is already running huge deficits.

These are all things that cannot immediately be implemented and thus focusing on more realizable short term goals initially is probably prudent for the Yoon administration.

Depending on what time he leaves for the Presidential office Yoon’s motorcade could have a major impact on Seoul traffic. Hopefully he leaves for work early to avoid this:

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is expected to commute to the new presidential office in central Seoul from his private home for about a month after his inauguration while his official residence is renovated, officials said Sunday.

Yoon has decided to remodel what is now the foreign minister’s residence into his official residence in line with his plan to move the presidential office and residence out of Cheong Wa Dae in an effort to connect better with the people.

Renovation work on the foreign minister’s residence in Hannam-dong will begin on Yoon’s inauguration on May 10 and is expected to take around a month, and Yoon plans to commute to his new office from his private home in Seocho-dong in southern Seoul, transition team officials said.

“We will be mainly taking the Banpo Bridge on our commute as it is the closest one to Seocho Ward. … The route could change depending on the situation,” an official told Yonhap News Agency.

Yoon’s commute could worsen traffic congestion because roads are blocked for his motorcade.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It didn’t take long for the Moon administration to begin to walk back their supposed cooperation with incoming President-Elect Yoon to move the presidential office to the Defense Ministry building:

Whether President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol will be able to relocate the presidential office in time for his May 10 inauguration remains a question even though President Moon Jae-in has promised to look into the matter and render cooperation.

Moon’s remark, made during a dinner meeting with Yoon on Monday, was seen as a step forward for Yoon, because Moon’s office had effectively expressed opposition earlier, saying the envisioned relocation could leave a security vacuum, as it also involves moving the defense ministry in a short period of time.

Moon’s cooperation is key, because the Cabinet should approve a reserve government fund for the plan.

Despite the positive words from Moon, the prospect of finishing the relocation by May 10 as planned is uncertain, as Moon’s offer of cooperation is considered conditional on a “careful” review of the relocation plan. (……)

After initial reports of Moon’s willingness to cooperate on the relocation plan, Cheong Wa Dae insiders cautioned against distorting the president’s latest remarks, saying the emphasis was on a “careful” review of the plan.

Some even claimed there was no change in Moon’s stance, as he had left open the possibility of rejecting the budget proposal for the relocation if it failed to resolve his concerns about leaving a security vacuum.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it is going to be a surprise if this move happens on the timeframe that the incoming Yoon administration is pushing for.

President Moon has quickly changed his mind about helping the Yoon administration move the Presidential office:

President Moon Jae-in said he will “cooperate” with President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s plan to relocate the presidential office, Monday, during their first meeting that came 19 days after the presidential election on March 9. 

“President Moon said the decision over the location of the presidential office is fully up to the incoming government,” Yoon’s Chief of Staff Rep. Chang Je-won said during a press briefing held after the meeting. “As an outgoing president, he said he will thoroughly look into the budget related to the relocation plan and cooperate with the president-elect.”

His remarks came days after the two sides had clashed over Yoon’s bid to set up a new presidential office at the defense ministry compound in Seoul’s Yongsan District, and begin his presidency there. Moon had earlier dismissed Yoon’s proposal to finance his presidential office relocation plan from the state reserve fund.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It is official now that the Presidential office is moving to Yongsan:

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday announced a decision to move the presidential office from Cheong Wa Dae to what is now the defense ministry building several kilometers away, saying he wants his office to move out of a “symbol of imperial” presidency and get closer to the people.

The decision is highly symbolic as Cheong Wa Dae has been used for decades as the presidential office and residence, though its secluded location and the way the president’s work office is located away from those of aides sparked criticism it causes the president to be out of touch with the public.

Yoon said he will move into the defense ministry compound in Seoul’s central district of Yongsan immediately after his inauguration on May 10. On the same day, Cheong Wa Dae will be fully opened to the public, he said.

The defense ministry will move into the Joint Chiefs of Staff building in the compound, he said.

Yonhap

There is going to be some offices dislocated from the Defense Ministry that has the Democrat Party lodging complaints about national security:

Yoon admitted that some of the current occupants, including the defense ministry and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will have to make partial relocations to make room for the presidential office.

He dismissed the notion that moving their offices will create gaps in national defense, a charge that has been leveled by some lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party. Yoon belongs to the main opposition People Power Party.

I find it interesting now that the Democratic Party is now concerned about national security after years of advocating for appeasement of North Korea.

It also appears the closure of Yongsan Garrison also played into this decision:

Above all, he stressed the advantages of its proximity to a planned national park.

“Starting this year, the (land of the) surrounding U.S. military base is expected to be returned in stages, which will allow us to swiftly construct Yongsan Park, use the defense ministry building as an office and commune and communicate with the people,” Yoon said.

You can read more at the link, but this move does now make it more likely Yongsan will be turned into a park instead of just more apartment towers.

It looks like US-ROK exercises will go back to Key Resolve and UFG level and diplomacy with Japan will be enhanced if I am reading the tea leaves correctly from President-elect Yoon’s recent statements:

South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol vowed Thursday to strengthen strategic alliance with the United States, build a strong national defense to deter North Korean provocations and pursue a future-oriented relationship with Japan, hours after winning the nation’s closely contested presidential election. (…..)

He promised to reconstruct South Korea-U.S. alliance and strengthen comprehensive strategic relationship with Washington by sharing the core values of human rights, market economy and human rights.

Earlier, Yoon talked with U.S. President Joe Biden on the phone prior to his visit to the Seoul National Cemetery and they affirmed strong bilateral alliance and close cooperation, according to PPP officials.” (…….)

In relations between South Korea and Japan, it is important to find out what will be beneficial to both countries and to the people of both countries in the future rather than in the past,” the president-elect said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Yoon has promised to respond “sternly” to any illegal North Korean actions or provocations with the international community. It is almost certainty based on that statement that North Korea is going to launch some provocation to test Yoon once he is President.

Congratulations to Yoon Suk-yeol on winning an extremely close ROK Presidential election:

Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) was elected as Korea’s next president early Thursday morning, narrowly beating his liberal rival.    
   
Yoon, the first former prosecutor to be elected as president, stressed a message of national unity and cooperation with the opposition in a speech at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, shortly after his victory was ascertained.    
   
In Korea’s closest presidential election, frontrunners Yoon and Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) were neck-and-neck in exits polls Wednesday evening, making a victor too close to call nearly all the votes were tallied around 4 a.m. Thursday.  
   
At 4:05 a.m., with 98.15 percent of the ballots counted, Yoon earned 48.59 percent of votes, effectively confirming his victory in the 20th presidential election. Lee received 47.8 percent of votes, just 0.8 percentage points less than Yoon.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but it will now be interesting to see what position Ahn Cheol-soo receives because it is arguable that his coalition with Yoon put him over the top to win the Presidency.

Additionally we will need to wait and see what the reaction from North Korea will be. Considering Yoon’s hardline rhetoric towards North Korea during the campaign it seems the Kim regime is likely to go bigger on whatever provocation they have planned. There has been reports of North Korea preparing for a nuclear test so this could be their response if preparations are complete. If not another ICBM or other missile tests would be a near term way for them to respond to Yoon’s election.