President’s return to Cheong Wa Dae draws cheers, concern from nearby residents

For Kim Hyo-sun, life beside Cheong Wa Dae, the longtime presidential office, had been shaped by the quiet rules of a high-security zone. Since her high school years in Seoul’s Hyoja-dong, the 38-year-old’s routines were influenced by the blue-tiled compound that served as the nation’s seat of power for more than 70 years. That proximity carried trade-offs. The neighborhood’s rare calm, set apart from Seoul’s bustle, came with constraints that defined daily life in Hyoja-dong. “There were frequent protests nearby, often causing traffic restrictions and inconvenience,” Kim told The Korea Times. “But the neighborhood felt very safe, with police stationed at every corner around the clock.” The balance shifted in 2022, after then-President Yoon Suk Yeol moved the presidential office from Cheong Wa Dae to central Seoul’s Yongsan District, describing the compound as authoritarian and insular. But now, President Lee Jae Myung is returning to Cheong Wa Dae, with the gradual move beginning earlier this week. The return of the presidential office will cost 56 billion won ($38.3