YOON ON RELOCATION OF PRES. OFFICE

[Anchor Lead]

The president-elect remains adamant about the relocation of the presidential office. Yoon Suk-yeol says he will begin his term at his current office in Tongui-dong if the Moon Jae-in government continues to oppose.

[Pkg]

Yoon Suk-yeol’s team gave a response two hours after President Moon Jae-in’s office had voiced its opposition to the president-elect’s plan to move the presidential office. The five-line-long statement began by expressing disappointment. The transition team stressed that the president-elect briefed the relocation plan in detail to the people. It then defined the incumbent presidential office’s stance as rejection to help the incoming president assume power smoothly.

[Soundbite] Kim Eun-hye(Spokesperson for President-Elect) : "There is no way to force President Moon Jae-in if he refuses to cooperate with essential issues for power transition."

The president-elect’s team went on to say that Yoon will not move into Cheong Wa Dae even if the relocation doesn't go as planned.

[Soundbite] Kim Eun-hye(Spokesperson for President-Elect) : "The president-elect will begin his term and address urgent public issues and state affairs at his current office in Tongui-dong with the launch of the new government."

This means the president-elect will prepare for moving the presidential office to Yongsan while working in his current office in Tongui-dong. Yoon’s team also vowed to keep his promise to make Cheong Wa Dae open to the general public starting from midnight on May tenth. It looks like a head-on clash between the incoming and outgoing presidents. As a result, it remains uncertain when the cabinet will approve the transition team’s request for a budget of nearly 50 billion won, which it says is needed for the relocation. The president-elect has hit a snag in the initial stages of his push to move the presidential office. Some members of the transition team refuted the current presidential office’s opinion that the relocation could create a possible vacuum in national security. They noted the Joint Chiefs of Staff will not move out immediately and there is an underground bunker in the Defense Ministry building.