Order Issued by South Korean Ex-Defence Minister to Restrict Lawmakers at National Assembly
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Seoul, Dec 10 (NationPress) The former Defence Minister of South Korea, Kim Yong-hyun, gave an order aimed at preventing 150 lawmakers from assembling at the National Assembly on the evening of last week's martial law declaration, according to a military commander who spoke on Tuesday.
Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun, head of the Army Special Warfare Command, stated in a parliamentary session that he did not comply with Kim's order and elaborated on the situation to the troops deployed to the area last Tuesday, as reported by Yonhap news agency.
Kwak is one of the military leaders involved in the martial law operations currently facing investigation by the prosecution regarding their involvement in enforcing the decree.
"An order restricting the number of lawmakers in the National Assembly Hall to between 100 and 150 was communicated to me via a secret phone," Kwak said during an emergency session of the parliamentary defence committee.
Kwak affirmed that he did not instruct troops at the scene to utilize blank ammunition or taser guns, but acknowledged that such information was inadvertently disseminated among military units due to an internal broadcasting error.
President Yoon announced martial law in a surprising statement late Tuesday, only to rescind it mere hours later after the opposition-led National Assembly unanimously voted against it.
The day prior, the commander of a special forces unit involved in martial law enforcement mentioned to reporters that Kwak had inquired if he could prevent around 150 lawmakers from entering the National Assembly.
Col. Kim Hyun-tae, leader of the 707th Special Mission Group, indicated that Kwak's comments seemed to show concern regarding the National Assembly planning to convene a session to pass a motion urging Yoon to lift the decree.
He also noted that the directive about the lawmakers likely originated from former Minister Kim, pointing out that his unit was initially instructed to swiftly secure and seal off the parliament building.
