Seoul: A former military commander involved in President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed attempt to impose martial law testified on Thursday, confirming that President Yoon ordered lawmakers, not agents, to be removed from the National Assembly. This claim, however, was rejected once more by Yoon.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun, who was the chief of the Army Special Warfare Command at the time, made this statement during the sixth formal hearing of Yoon's impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court. Yoon was present during the proceedings.
Kwak clarified his understanding of the order, stating, "I obviously thought and understood the part about dragging people out from inside as referring to lawmakers because there were no operation agents inside the main (parliamentary) building at the time." He was referring to a phone call from Yoon on the night martial law was imposed on December 3rd.
Kwak's testimony aligns with his previous statements in parliament, contradicting former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who claimed Yoon had ordered the removal of agents, not lawmakers. The similarity in pronunciation between the Korean words for agent and lawmaker adds to the controversy.
Yoon denied the accusation again, asserting that he never used the term "agent" and accused Kwak of conspiring against him. He argued that had he given such an order, it would be standard procedure to verify the situation before the vote concluded. Yoon pointed out that Kwak never contested the order, suggesting it was never given.
During the hearing, Col. Kim Hyun-tae, head of the Army Special Warfare Command's 707th Special Mission Group, testified about his orders to seal off and secure the National Assembly building during the martial law decree. He recounted a conversation with Kwak, where Kwak inquired about the possibility of entering further, referencing the number 150, which Kim later understood to be the minimum number of lawmakers required to vote down Yoon's decree.
Kim stated that he received no order to "drag out" lawmakers, and even if there had been, he believed it would not have been feasible.
Senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, Park Chun-sup, also provided testimony, citing the opposition party's efforts to cut the government budget as a reason for declaring martial law. Park criticized the opposition's unilateral budget passage, marking it as a historical first in constitutional history. He specifically criticized budget cuts for the "Blue Whale" prospect, where a 20 percent success rate in extraction was considered high. Earlier, the industry ministry reported failing to confirm the economic feasibility of the prospect due to preliminary drilling results.