On his May 10^th inauguration day, President Yoon Suk-yeol headed to the presidential office in the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan-gu instead of Cheongwadae (CWD). The same day, 74 representatives holding flowers paraded through main gate of CWD and it was open to the public. CWD, which served as the office and official residence of former South Korean presidents, has been the political center of the nation and a space shrouded in tight security for the past 74 years. It opened amid huge expectations, but conflicts and insufficiency in management and utilization have been problems ever since it opened. Let's look into the history of CWD, the government's utilization plans and problems, and the direction in which the use of this historic place should pursue.

The Venerable History of Cheongwadae

Cultural experts say that the entire site is historically and culturally important, that it has a high value of preservation and research as a cultural site. Cheongwadae-ro 1, Jongno-gu, Seoul where CWD is located was the center of the Korean Peninsula’s political history. The site of CWD was originally the detached palace of Namgyeong, the second city of Goryeo. During the Joseon Dynasty, it was called Gyeongmudae as the backyard of Gyeongbokgung Palace. It was also a place where Emperor Kojong of the Korean Empire held state exams, discussed state affairs with bureaucrats, and inspected the army. Gyeongmudae was demolished by the Japanese in 1927 during the Japanese colonial era, and the 7th to 9^th Governor-General of Korea used the place as a government house. After liberation, the building served as the official residence of the Lieutenant General of the US Army Government for a short period of time. With the establishment of the Korean government in August 1948, the government house was transferred to the Korean government and regained its name of Gyeongmudae as the office of the first President Syngman Rhee. He spent a total of 12 years there, until his reomval by the April 19 Revolution in 1960. In August of the same year, President Yun Bo-sun who moved in next changed the name into "Cheongwadae," meaning "blue tile-roofed house," to erase the history of dictatorship and irregularities of the previous government. From then, 12 presidents lived in CWD over the next 74 years until 19th President Moon Jae-in’s retirement. However, criticism constantly arose that presidents are trapped in the palace-like office (hence the repeated administration separated from the public sentiment), and that communication is hard between the president’s private office and the secretariat buildings which are 500m away. As a result, many former governments attempted to relocate CWD, but each time they failed due to budget and security problems. On May 10^th, 2022, CWD finally returned to the public after doing its part as the presidential office and residence for the greater part of a century. The Main Building used as a presidential office, Yeongbingwan that greeted foreign guests, the Presidential Residence where the first family lived, Chunchugwan where the presidential press conferences were held, and the Nokjiwon with commemorative trees of former presidents is now unveiled to the public.

The Government’s Plan to Utilize Cheongwadae

As a candidate, President Yoon said, "CWD should first be returned to the people, and they should decide how to further utilize it." The public's interest in CWD as a space for citizens, was higher than expected. On the first day of CWD’s actual opening, the number of visitors exceeded 26,000, and over 1.5 million people visited during the next 100 days. Events including night viewing and celebrated performances were held in collaboration with the The Cheongwadae Public Opening Promotion Team (promotion team) under the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA), and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation. As well as the hiking trail from the precinct to Bugaksan Mountain, the Main Building, including the President’s private office and the presidential residence, are now also open to public. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), CHA (including the promotion team), and the Office of the 20^th Presidents’ Secretary to the President for General Affairs are in charge of establishing plans for the management and utilization of CWD.

Their jurisdiction includes permission for CWD to be used as a filming location. CWD was high in demand as a filming location for various purposes including variety shows. That was due to its accessibility due to its free use and the curiosity it excites in viewers as the place where the most powerful lived. In fact, the promotion team gave permission to a total of five variety shows as of August 14^th, including shows touring or holding concerts in CWD. Also, in collaboration with the Visit Korean Heritage Campaign by CHA, a photo shoot of Vogue Korea took place in September. CHA’s internal document which allowed the shoot, said "carrying out a fashion collaboration to promote Korean fashion, tradition, and cultural heritage," and cited the promotion of CWD and hanbok (Korean traditional clothing) as the expected outcomes.

Also, a plan to transform CWD into a cultural complex was unveiled in the presidential report by MCST on July 21^st. The main building and the official residence will be decorated into a permanent exhibition hall that preserves the building’s original form, Nockjiwon will become a sculpture park, and the Chunchugwan will be a civic communication space and a special exhibition hall for private rental. In particular, the presidential residence, which will be reorganized as an exhibition hall for modern and contemporary art, will attract the best works at domain and abroad including the Lee Kun-hee collection by utilizing its postmodernist architectural styles. The cultural complex plan includes building a model of the old main building (the official residence of the Government-General of Korea) that had been demolished.

Problems of the Government’s Utilization

The Unready Open and Poor Preparation

Criticism arose that the government failed to prevent problems that had been predicted in advance of opening CWD. On the second day of opening, a woman in her 50s was arrested on charges of damaging an object in front of the "Gyeongju Seated Stone Buddha with Square Pedestals" located behind the presidential residence designated as a national treasure. The entrance tickets, which was provided free of charge through a lottery among the tour reservation list, was sold by scalpers for up to 40,000 won, and identification for entrance was introduced as a late countermeasure. During the special opening event, which was delayed by nearly 20 days, even workers of the Seoul Metropolitan Government were recruited for facility guidance of CWD due to a lack of management personnel. Even after June 12^th, when the compound was to be officially open at all times, there were only portable toilets in the precinct, hence the toilets of Yeonpungmun, the passageway to CWD, were closed due to the overflowing garbage. Meanwhile, the effects that can be achieved by the opening has not been properly predicted. The MCST reported to the presidential transition committee in March, that they expect the production inducement effect (sales) of the opening the site to be 149 billion won per year, and the value-added inducement to be 56.5 billion won per year. However, the production inducement effect was calculated under the assumption that 3 million people would each spend 230,400 won. This assumption lacks credibility, since the figures rely on the number of yearly visitors to Gyeongbokgung Palace and the estimated expenditure of visitors at the Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall, which has not yet even opened.

Filming Permission Without Regard of Historicity and Symbolism

Critics say that the permitted commercial shoots undermine CWD’s historical and symbolic nature. According to the admission regulation which took effect in June, permission to use CWD is prohibited if profit seeking activities are carried out. However, an OTT platform which filmed in June, drew criticism from the public by releasing a branded entertainment program including a scene of the sofa placed on the front yard of the Main Building, with the caption “The first sofa to visit Cheongwadae” Vogue Korea’s filming, which was approved for promoting Korean culture, was also criticized that their outfits did not look like hanboks at all. In addition, one of the dresses in the pictorial turned out to be a work of a Japanese designer, and Vogue eventually removed the pictorial from their official social networks. Meanwhile, the promotion team which allowed both shoots elucidated their faults that the filming company did not reveal the purpose of promotion during the consultation process, or that it was after the shoot after the MCST became the managing body of utilizing CWD, therefore was unable to directly report to the MCST. The head of CHA said, "We will ban all filming in CWD for shoots that expose or promote specific product names, and only allow filming under the condition that the final result is checked before use."

The Questionable Multipurpose Cultural Complex Plan

The Japanese Government-General of Korea was a governing body established by the Japanese in 1910, after colonizing the Korean Empire. The former main building of CWD was the official residence of the Governor-General of Korea, but in 1993, President Kim Young-sam had it demolished based on public support. Against this backdrop, the CHA announced plans to "restore" the demolished former main building after 29 years. As criticism mounted on why they must rebuild the Joseon Governor-General's residence that was torn down to settle the remnants of Japan’s colonial rule, Minister of MCST Park Bo-kyun replied "We will use it to tell the story of the achievements of the first six presidents who worked in the Governor-General's residence." However, Minister Park faced criticism for espousing Japan’s colonization several times, including a positive assessment of Japan's occupation when he was a reporter of the JoongAng Ilbo in 2014. Therefore, he could not avoid criticism that the restoration plan also originated from a pro-Japanese view of history.

Meanwhile, there were reports that first lady Kim Keon-hee, who suspended external activities due to a false career controversy during the presidential election, could participate in the use of artworks possessed by CWD. In April, Yonhap News Agency reported that an official of Mrs. Kim said, "There has been an unofficial conversation around Mrs. Kim that she could contribute to organizing and disclosing artworks owned by CWD to the public." Kang In-sun, a spokesman for the presidential office, dismissed this in a telephone interview with Hankyoreh 21 in August, "It is not true (the assumption that Mrs. Kim involved in the decision to transform CWD into an art museum). It is the government's jurisdiction, and it is a decision to be made by the MCST”. In the same month, the opposing party submitted a request for parliamentary investigation to fact-find allegations regarding the new presidential office/residence and of private recruitment, including the Cheongwadae cultural complex plan.

The Directions of Further Preserving Cheongwadae’s Value

People point out that most of the problems above resulted from hasty promotion. In fact, the president-elect's task force who managed the opening in the early days, temporarily entrusted the management to the CHA on the first day of open. However, it was only a week before that a separate organization in charge of managing CWD was launched in CHA. In devising the utilization plan the management entities had confusions. The CHA insisted that the compound should be preserved as a historical and cultural space through "discovery and restoration of key relics" from 2023 to 2026. On the other hand, the MCST, which is the superior authority, promoted a plan to use it as an art museum and concert hall. As a result, there was a controversy that Minister Park's presidential report in July to set up a cultural complex skipped the consensus process with CHA. Four days later, the CHA of the State Public Official’s Labor Union expressed opposition saying, "We have no choice but to ask if MCST’s plan is a regression that ignores the history of CWD and the democracy of openness." The original plan to excavate and restore key relics was replaced by a four-month basic survey to secure basic data for preservation, management, and utilization. According to the Chosun Ilbo's July report, an official at the president's office said, "We are reviewing which agency can provide the best content to the public," adding, "We will decide by the end of the year." To solve the problems CWD is currently facing, a carefully thought-out plan by a formally approved management body is essential.

In addition, CWD needs to reconsider its historical and cultural values. The site holds the traces of past presidents, contains more than 600 pieces of art, 50,000 trees, and 61 cultural heritage sites and remains. Also, outside the walls, there are art galleries, museums, and cultural facilities such as Seochon and Bukchon. In addition to the legacies that have already been revealed, Professor Lee Ik Joo of Department of Korean History at University of Seoul, said, "CWD is almost the only place in Seoul where the remains of the Goryeo Dynasty are likely to be found” adding that the priority is to confirm whether the detached palace existed. CWD also has many unidentified cultural assets that have not yet been investigated. Presidential guards have said they saw scenes of unusual stones with Chinese characters buried in the ground, turtle-shaped stones, and Buddha statues everywhere along the grounds. Critics point out that CWD should not be disclosed right away but should focus on its use after making the roadmap for research, preservation, and connection. In response, the presidential office launched the "Cheongwadae Management - Utilization Advisory Team" in July, focusing on civilian experts with expertise in various fields, and said, "We will devise appropriate measures to respect CWD’s history, symbolism, and identity." They announced to establish the road map by the end of this year.

In a survey of visitors to CWD, conducted by the promotion team in June on how to further utilize the site, 40.9% of the respondents answered, "preserving the original and current form carrying the president's life and history." It is the judgment of the people that the dignity and symbolism of CWD should be preserved, as a space symbolizing the modern and contemporary political history of Korea. In sake of the will of the people, the government should make efforts to preserve the dignity of the returned CWD and to further increase its cultural value.