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Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun closes his eyes while detailing what he said was his phone conversation with President Yoon Suk Yeol about martial law plans during a meeting of the National Assembly defense committee Tuesday afternoon. (Yonhap) |
Dozens of generals and military leaders attended a questioning session by the Assembly national defense committee on Tuesday, a week after troops stormed the parliament grounds overnight on Dec. 3-4.
One by one, key commanders testified against Yoon on his aborted bid to impose martial law.
In a shocking revelation, Special Warfare Commander Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-geun claimed to have received a call from Yoon, who told him to “break open the door, and drag the lawmakers out.” “They have not reached the quorum yet,” Kwak quoted the president as telling him.
But the commanders on the ground at the Assembly resisted, Kwak said.
“They said they could not do that. (The Assembly) was off limits. I thought that they were absolutely right. I decided that it was not right for our troops to go in, because they would be committing crimes and too many people would get injured if we forced our way in,” he said.
“So I said, do not go any further and stay in your positions.”
Kwak said he put the mission on hold, and after the Assembly voted to lift martial law at around 1 a.m. Dec. 4, he ordered the troops to return to their units.
“This is how I gave my orders and directions to our troops that night. I am telling you honestly.”
Kwak made the remarks speaking in response to a question from Rep. Yu Yong-weon, who asked if there were specific orders about blocking lawmakers from getting inside the Assembly and from whom.
When asked if he reported to the president before he decided to withdraw troops, Kwak said he did not.
He also testified that he was aware of plans for a state of emergency as of Dec. 1, and that he had received orders to secure six locations, including the National Assembly and the National Election Commission.
The special warfare commander said after Yoon declared martial law, then-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun told him not to let more than 150 lawmakers gather at the plenary chamber of the Assembly.
“I was told by the minister that there cannot be more than 100 to 150 lawmakers at the Assembly,” he said.
The special warfare commander said he regretted following orders to break into the Assembly, knowing they were problematic. “My regret is that I didn’t say no when I received the order the first time,” he said.
He said the former defense minister also discussed with him ways to get into the Assembly plenary chamber, and that they possibly shoot blanks and use stun guns in the process.
Col. Kim Hyun-tae, commander of the Special Warfare Command’s 707th special mission group deployed to the Assembly on the night martial law was imposed, also said he was told “to get in quickly” as “there shouldn’t be more than 150 lawmakers in the chamber.”
A resolution demanding the withdrawal of martial law declaration needs votes from more than half of the Assembly, which is 150 lawmakers. The 190 lawmakers who managed to gather that night voted unanimously to overturn the president’s declaration.
The special warfare commander and the colonel registered as public interest whistleblowers with Rep. Park Beom-kye on this day.
Kwak also told lawmakers the ongoing investigation of the martial law decree by Seoul prosecutors appeared to focus on the former defense minister, rather than the president. The special warfare commander was summoned a day prior by the Seoul central prosecutors’ office.
Kwak answered “yes” to a question from Rep. Cho Kuk, who asked if the prosecutors in charge of investigating Yoon’s martial law declaration were framing their questions in a way that held the former defense minister and not the president accountable.
When Cho asked if prosecutors “put the former defense minister at the front of allegations related to the martial law imposition, and the president second,” Kwak once again responded, “That is right.”
Cho suggested that the former defense minister might be covering up for the president.
“Kim Yong-hyun told the media that he stated during a questioning by prosecutors that he was delegated the authority to give orders by the president that night,” Cho pointed out.
Some of the commanders accused of a role in Yoon imposing martial law have said they would not follow a second such order from the president.
Appearing at a meeting of the Assembly judiciary committee on Monday, acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho also said he would not follow “illegitimate, unjust” orders from the president, who remains commander in chief.
