South Korea’s Defence Ministry on Friday set in motion the phased relocation work to empty its main building in the central Seoul district of Yongsan for use as the country’s new presidential office starting in May.
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has decided to move the presidential office to the compound from Cheong Wa Dae in the northern part of the capital, reports Yonhap News agency.
“The relocation work for the fifth storey (of the building) and higher got underway in earnest this morning,” a Ministry official said.
Yoon is expected to use a room on the fifth story as his provisional office with his inauguration on May 10 until the relocation of the Ministry, mostly to the nearby Joint Chiefs of Staff building, finishes four days later.
As moving trucks showed up at the compound, officials were busy carrying packages and preparing to get confidential papers shredded.