The opposition criticized it as a waste of money as the presidential office decided to spend 80 billion won to build a new building for the reception of domestic and foreign guests, which will serve as the Gu Cheong Wa Dae hotel.
According to the ‘2022 Budget Plan of the State Property Management Fund’ received by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on the 15th, Representative Han Byung-do of the Democratic Party of Korea, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance has budgeted 87.863 billion won on for the construction of large facilities attached to the presidential office to support foreign guests and various events. In detail, the construction cost is 43.2 billion won, the basic and detailed design cost 4.366 billion won, the supervision cost 2.07 billion won, and the facility cost 110 million won. The project period is between 2023 and 2024, and the budget for next year is 49.74 billion won.
According to the data, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said the purpose of the project was “to build new large facilities for receiving foreign guests and supporting various events in order to support stable control of the state.” The beneficiaries were said to be ‘people’.
The presidential office said, “After returning the Blue House to the people and moving it to the Yongsan Presidential Office, domestic and foreign guests were held at the National Defense Convention Center, etc. Once the budget is finalised, the associated expenses will be transparently disclosed to the public.”
The opposition criticized it as a waste of money. At the on-site Supreme Council meeting of the Democratic Party of Korea held at the Jeonbuk Provincial Office on the 16th, Supreme Councilor Park Chan-dae said, “The beneficiaries are the people, and the president’s office countered that new construction is a small hotel is different because it is a transfer cost for attached facilities, not a transfer cost for the presidential office.” “Do you think this is an excuse from another world? It’s a trick to maximize the associated budget using the excuse of the budget for building apartment facilities.”
Park said, “They say the beneficiaries of the guest house are the people, right?” “It is said that the old kings built new palaces and made excuses, ‘for the sake of the people’.
In a written briefing on the same day, Democratic Party spokesman Kim Eui-gyeom said, “The move to the Blue House is ‘Pouring water into the bottomless poison’.” I was admitted, but the amount is too large to be considered ‘bokchae’.” He criticized, “I am amazed at the shamelessness of the Yun Seok-yeol government to build a luxury small hotel without considering the people’s livelihood and skip the preliminary feasibility study.”
Meanwhile, Park Ji-won, former director of the National Intelligence Service, said on YTN radio’s ‘New King Park Ji-hoon’ that day, “Since the election, a reporter from Seoul’s Voice of Korea called Kim Gun-hee , and he said, ‘I asked a certain judge and he said that he had been elected president. They told me that the small hotel should also be moved,’ and he pointed to the small hotel and talked about it.” He said, “It is known in the market that ‘Mrs. Kun-hee Kim first heard about moving the hotel,’ but it is not desirable.”
Former Director Park said, “At first it was said that the relocation of the presidential office would cost 49.5 billion won, but it costs more than 80 billion won by diverting the budget of the ministries. “Is it necessary to build the Gutaye Hotel while eliminating all local money as money revives the local economy?” he noted. He continued, “If the current Blue House is used as it is, there won’t be a problem.” “How many times will you get to the top? There is no use of the hotel (rarely),” he added.
