Visual Studio Code - Launching GDB in specific directory

Question

I just have a quick question:

EDIT: This is run under Ubuntu 20.04 WSL2 using Visual Studio Code.

So I am debugging a kernel for gdb and the symbol files require that GDB is launched in the project directory, but the problem is GDB keep launching in the location of the program:

-exec pwd
Working directory /home/user/project-directory/obj/kern

I need GDB to stay in the project-directory:/home/user/project-directory

In the VSCode launch.json file, I made a workaround by adding a custom launch setup as shown below:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Debug Kernel",
            "type": "cppdbg",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${workspaceRoot}/obj/kern/kernel",
            "args": [],
            "stopAtEntry": false,
            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "environment": [],
            "externalConsole": false,
            "MIMode": "gdb",
            "printCalls": true, 
            "showDevDebugOutput": true, 
            "setupCommands": [
                {
                    "description": "Change back to the workspace folder",
                    "text": "cd ${workspaceRoot}",
                    "ignoreFailures": true
                },
                {
                    "description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
                    "text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
                    "ignoreFailures": true
                }
            ],
            // "preLaunchTask": "Launch Qemu (no graphic)",
            "miDebuggerPath": "/usr/bin/gdb",
            "miDebuggerArgs": "",
            "targetArchitecture": "x86_64",
            "customLaunchSetupCommands": [
                {
                    "text": "target remote localhost:1234",
                    "description": "Connect to QEMU remote debugger"
                },
                {
                    "text": "symbol-file obj/kern/kernel",
                    "description": "Get kernel symbols"
                },
                // {
                //     "text": "set architecture i8086",
                //     "description": "Sets the current architecture"
                // }
            ],
            "avoidWindowsConsoleRedirection": true
        }
    ]
}

The ${workspaceFolder} and ${workspaceRoot} are located in the project's directory, but without the setup to change back into the workspace folder, it won't work. Any tips would be appreciated!