SEOUL– The inauguration ceremony of incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol will take place at a plaza in front of the National Assembly, as was the case with his predecessors, the chief of his inaugural ceremony committee said Wednesday.
“As is customary, we thought it is realistically better to hold the ceremony at the National Assembly and the president-elect gladly said, do that,” said Park Joo-sun, who is in charge of Yoon’s inauguration preparations.
“It will be held at a plaza in front of the National Assembly and if there is rain, the ceremony will then take place at the Rotunda Hall (inside the main Assembly building).”
The plaza can accommodate up to 50,000 people, while the Rotunda Hall can have up to 400 guests.
The inaugural committee reviewed Yongsan Park, the National Museum of Korea, and the Seoul Plaza as candidate sites for Yoon’s inauguration ceremony, but ultimately picked the National Assembly in line with the tradition.
Since a direct presidential election system was adopted in 1987 after the Constitution amendment, inauguration ceremonies for all new presidents have taken place at the National Assembly.
Other locations also had issues with security, traffic and space, the committee said.
Lee Do-hoon, who planned and directed the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, as well President Lee Myung-bak’s inauguration ceremony in 2008, will serve as the chief executive director for Yoon’s inauguration ceremony, according to the committee.
Lee Kark-bum, an emeritus professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) who also worked as presidential secretary for policy planning under the Kim Young-sam administration, will be in charge of preparations for Yoon’s inaugural address.
Meanwhile, an official close to Yoon’s inaugural ceremony committee indicated that former President Park Geun-hye could be invited to the ceremony, saying that former and incumbent presidents need to attend the ceremony for national unity.
Park, who was pardoned while serving a prison sentence for corruption, is set to be discharged from the hospital on Thursday and return to her hometown of Daegu.
Another former President Lee Myung-bak has been serving a prison sentence for corruption.
Source: Yonhap News Agency