President Lee Jae-myung instructed on the 14th regarding the office to be built in Sejong City, "Proceed with construction quickly so it can be used within my term." According to government design competition guidelines, the Sejong office will be constructed as a building with a total floor area of 40,102㎡ at a cost of 216.8 billion won for design and construction (estimated). The site area is 250,000㎡, combining the office site (150,000㎡) and reserve land for future expansion. Considering surrounding buffer zones, it could expand to a maximum of 350,000㎡. This is approximately 1 to 1.4 times the size of Cheongwadae and 3.4 to 4.8 times the size of the U.S. White House. Compared to the Japanese Prime Minister's office and residence, it is 5.4 to 7.6 times larger, and compared to France's Élysée Palace (including garden area), it is 8 to 11 times larger.
The government says it will develop the Sejong office area into a "Korean version of Washington DC's National Mall" to create a national landmark. The project master plan is designed to create a 2.1 million㎡ "National Symbolic District" in the Sejong-dong area of Sejong City, placing the presidential Sejong office in the northern section and a Sejong branch of the National Assembly in the southern section. Between them, a park open to citizens will be created to embody anti-authoritarian democratic values.
The late former President Roh Moo-hyun attempted to relocate the presidential office from Cheongwadae to Sejong City during his term. This plan was thwarted by a Constitutional Court ruling declaring the administrative capital relocation unconstitutional, and during the Moon Jae-in administration, both ruling and opposition parties introduced legislation to maintain the Cheongwadae office while establishing a second office in Sejong City. Subsequently, the Yoon Suk-yeol government pledged to build the Sejong office, but this was disrupted by the December 3rd martial law declaration and impeachment crisis.
With President Lee firmly committing to completing the Sejong office within his term, the Chungcheong region is greatly welcoming the news. However, Sejong City has been left as a "transportation island." There are no high-speed rail or subway lines. There is not even a domestic airport, let alone an international one. Expressways and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) have been expanded, but they are insufficient. This is completely different from Washington DC, which has a subway station right in front of the White House, is served by Acela high-speed train routes, and has multiple airports nearby. Building grandiose government buildings while spending astronomical amounts of taxpayer money without even proper regional transportation makes the label of "Korean Washington DC" seem hollow.
