South Korean Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun, the chief of the Army Special Warfare Command, told the parliament’s defense committee today that President Yoon Suk Yeol had called him on Dec. 3 on a secured phone and ordered him to “drag out” lawmakers from the National Assembly building. Details exposed today indicated that the extraordinary declaration of martial law was planned out, not a last-minute reaction.
As reported by Yonhap news Army special warfare commander says Yoon ordered him to drag out lawmaker. Kwak related that Yoon “said the quorum didn’t appear to be met yet, so I should break down the doors, and go in and drag out the people inside.” Yoon had declared martial law that evening, and 150 of the 300 members of parliament represented a quorum for lifting Yoon’s decree. Late that evening, 190 voted unanimously to do so.
Kwak reported that he had then consulted with commanders in the field about options, such as storming the building while firing blanks or cutting off power to stop a vote, but they advised against them, and Kwak said he agreed. He said: “Even if they were to go inside to execute the order, the troops involved would later become lawbreakers and too many people would be injured if they broke their way in, so I judged it wasn’t right. I told them not to go inside further, and after seeing them move away, I stopped them from undertaking any additional operations.” He testified that he did not report his actions to Yoon, but did explain them to then Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.
