ⓒYONHAP News

President Moon Jae-in has reportedly expressed his intent to cooperate with President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol's plan to move the top office to the defense ministry compound.

The outgoing and incoming presidents held their first meeting at the presidential office at 6 p.m. on Monday, 19 days after Yoon's election victory.

After the meeting that lasted for two hours and 51 minutes, Yoon's chief of staff, Chang Je-won, said in a press briefing that Moon expressed that the decision on the relocation of the top office was up to the incoming government.

Moon reportedly said he will cooperate with the relocation after closely reviewing the budget related to the plan.

The two sides shared the need for a new supplementary budget to compensate those suffering losses due to the government's COVID-19 restrictions and agreed to continue working-level consultations on the matter.

Chang said there was no discussion about a pardon for former President Lee Myung-bak.

But despite the successful meeting, disagreements between the incumbent and incoming presidents’ camps continued throughout the week.

On Thursday, Yoon's transition team denounced the appointment of a friend of President Moon Jae-in's brother as CEO of a local shipbuilder under state control, in a continuation of the conflict between the two camps over executive appointments.

Yoon's chief deputy spokesperson Won Il-hee said that Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering(DSME) pushed ahead with naming Park Du-sun, a university alumnus with Moon's younger brother, as its new CEO.

Calling the move "irrational" and "shameless," the deputy spokesperson claimed that the move raised suspicion that external influence played a role in the appointment.

The shipbuilder is considered a quasi-public firm due to the status of state-run Korea Development Bank(KDB) as its largest shareholder.

The appointment came despite the Financial Services Commission repeatedly ordering the KDB to suspend new appointments at affiliated organizations toward the end of Moon's presidency.

In response to the criticism, the presidential office expressed surprise that the transition team had its eye on the position.

Deputy spokesperson for the top office Shin Hye-hyun issued a statement on Thursday noting the transition committee's issue over the appointment of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering(DSME)'s CEO is an indication that it also had its eyes on the post.

Shin said the builder needs an expert from within its ranks in corporate management to help the debt-ridden firm quickly stabilize operations, and added that the position of DSME CEO is a post that neither the current nor the next government should eye with any kind of ulterior motive.