This photo taken on Dec. 22, 2025 shows a view of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, South Korea. South Korea's presidential office will officially return to Cheong Wa Dae, which is widely known as the Blue House, at midnight on Dec. 29, Yonhap News Agency reported on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung will commute to Cheong Wa Dae, which is widely known as the Blue House, for the first time on Monday. It has been three years and seven months since former President Yoon Suk-yeol moved the presidential office to Yongsan in May 2022, the Korea Herald reported on Sunday.

With the relocation, the presidential office will restore the name of "Cheong Wa Dae" again, per the report.

The phoenix flag, symbolizing South Korea's head of state, will be taken down at the Yongsan presidential office at 12 am on Monday and raised at Cheong Wa Dae, the report said. The phoenix flag is flown at the place where the president's main office is located.

The relocation also marks that the Yongsan period is officially over, with the transition back to the "Cheong Wa Dae era" now formally completed, according to the report.

President Lee plans to work in the office in Yeomin Hall among the offices installed in the main building of Cheong Wa Dae and Yeomin Hall, the Chosun Biz reported.

The offices of the three key chiefs — the chief of staff, the policy chief, and the national security chief — are also in Yeomin Hall. This is interpreted to mean an intention to implement policy efficiently by communicating closely at a short distance with aides, said the report.

The presidential office was moved into the Ministry of National Defense's complex in Yongsan in May 2022, when former President Yoon Suk-yeol took office, per Korea Herald.


Global Times