(3rd LD) Yoon-impeachment trial
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| ▲ Kwak Jong-keun, former chief of the Army Special Warfare Command, answers a question from a lawmaker at the National Assembly in Seoul on Feb. 4, 2025, during a hearing of a parliamentary special committee to probe into impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol's insurrection allegations in connection with his botched martial law declaration. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Army Col. Kim Hyun-tae, head of the 707th Special Mission Group, arrives at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Feb. 6, 2025, to testify at President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial. (Pool photo) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) talks with his lawyers as he attends the sixth hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Feb. 6, 2025, over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December. (Pool photo) (Yonhap) |
(3rd LD) Yoon-impeachment trial
(3rd LD) Ex-commander confirms Yoon ordered removal of lawmakers, not agents, from Nat'l Assembly
(ATTN: RECASTS lead; UPDATES with Yoon's remarks in paras 7-9)
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Yonhap) -- A former military commander involved in President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched martial law bid confirmed Thursday that the people Yoon ordered to be removed from the National Assembly were lawmakers, not agents, a claim that Yoon again rejected.
Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun, the then chief of the Army Special Warfare Command, made the remark as a witness during the sixth formal hearing of Yoon's impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court.
Yoon was also in attendance.
"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," Kwak said, referring to a phone call he received from Yoon on the night martial law was imposed on Dec. 3.
Kwak was confirming testimony he has previously given in parliament, as former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun has disputed the claim, saying Yoon had in fact ordered the removal of agents, not lawmakers.
In Korean, the words for agent and lawmaker are similar in pronunciation.
Yoon once again denied the claim -- saying he has never used the term "agent" -- and accused Kwak of plotting against him.
"Had I made such an order, it would be customary for me or the minister to check up on the situation at least once or twice before the vote wraps up," Yoon said, questioning whether it is feasible to order the commander to drag out lawmakers.
He added Kwak never refuted his order or claimed his order was impossible to carry out, saying this proves that such an alleged order was not given in the first place.
Earlier during the hearing,Col. Kim Hyun-tae, head of the Army Special Warfare Command's 707th Special Mission Group, said he had been ordered to seal off and secure the National Assembly building while the decree was in force.
"The mission I received was to seal off and secure (the National Assembly)," he said, adding that he relayed the instruction to his troops.
He also recalled that in a phone call he had with Kwak after his troops had entered the parliamentary building on the night of Dec. 3, Kwak asked if they could go in further, "since there can't be more than 150 people."
Kim said he did not know at the time what the number 150 meant but later learned it was the minimum number of lawmakers needed to vote down Yoon's martial law decree.
When asked if he was instructed to "drag out" lawmakers, he said, "There was no such order and by my recollection even if there had been it wouldn't have worked."
Senior presidential secretary for economic affairs Park Chun-sup is also set to testify.
Park is expected to be asked about the opposition party's push to cut the government budget, which Yoon's side has cited as one of the reasons martial law was declared.
(END)
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