South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-Yeol said that he will abandon the current presidential palace Blue House and establish his office in downtown Seoul as part of an effort to improve public relations, AP reported.

Relocating the presidential office was one of the president-elect's major campaign promises. Earlier, the country's former prosecutor said the Blue House's location and design contributed to criticism that South Korean presidents are cut off from society and wield excessive power.

In the Blue House, the offices of the president's advisers and other officials, as well as the press room, are not in the same building where the president works.

During a news conference on Sunday, Yoon said he would move the presidential office to the Defense Ministry complex in downtown Seoul and begin working there. South Korea's president-elect said Defense Ministry officials will be relocated to the Joint Chiefs of Staff building at the compound, and committee officials will be gradually relocated to the military command center near Seoul.

Yoon said that a huge public park will be laid out next to the president's new office and that ordinary citizens will be able to view his office from up close. He said he plans to set up a press center in the new presidential office and often meet reporters there.