The Joint Chiefs of Staff opened its office building Wednesday.

This is the first time since the JCS was formed in 1948 that the organization will operate from an independent building.

Since the 1970s, the JCS had shared the building occupied by the Ministry of National Defense. Before that the JCS had moved around from the Defense Ministry to Cheong Wa Dae’s satellite building in Jongno-gu and other government buildings.

The 187.5 billion won ($166 million) building consists of 10 above-ground floors and four underground levels.

The building is designed to withstand earthquakes of 8.38 magnitude and is equipped with defenses against high-tech attacks including electromagnetic pulse.

In addition, information and communications systems for Korea-U.S. joint operations and commanding the Korean military are also installed in the new building.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)