Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, on his first day back at the Ministry of National Defense's main headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, said he was deeply saddened that taxpayer money had been wasted and vowed to make the return a turning point to ensure the tragedy of the Dec. 3 insurrection never happens again.
Speaking to reporters on his way into the office Friday, Ahn said the return to the ministry's main building after four years felt deeply meaningful. "I remember telling our soldiers during the 2023 national audit, 'Please wait just three years — I will give it back to you,'" he said.
On the so-called armistice enforcement security brigade that the United Nations Command had been reported to be pursuing, Ahn said South Korea and the United States had agreed not to establish or inaugurate the unit. The remarks denied earlier reports that the UNC planned to stand up a new brigade-level organization to strengthen its management of access to the Demilitarized Zone and enforcement of the armistice agreement.
Asked whether the agreement covered not just the inauguration ceremony but the establishment of the unit itself, Ahn replied, "Yes." When asked whether he had conveyed Seoul's position directly to Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of USFK and the UNC, Ahn declined to confirm when they had met but said the two sides communicate and meet frequently.
On the controversy with alumni associations of the Army, Navy and Air Force academies over plans to merge the institutions, Ahn pushed back on suggestions that the current structure could be preserved. "Can I really say I will merge the academies while keeping the current structure?" he said. "Fundamentally, I think that would be difficult."
Ahn returned to the minister's office at the ministry's main headquarters Friday for the first time in about four years. The ministry had vacated the building in May 2022 to make way for the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan, temporarily moving to the Joint Chiefs of Staff building across the street. It moved back after the presidential office returned to Cheong Wa Dae. The ministry spent about 34.9 billion won ($24.7 million) relocating to the JCS building and about 20.6 billion won moving back — a combined total exceeding 55 billion won across the two moves.
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