Special Forces Commander: "Defense Minister Instructed That No More Than 150 Members of Parliament Should Be Allowed"

Attendance at National Assembly Defense Committee: "Received orders via burner phone in Combat Control Room"

Special Forces Commander Gwak Jong-geun revealed on the 10th that when President Yoon Seok-yeol declared martial law on the night of the 3rd, former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun instructed that the number of members of the National Assembly in the plenary session hall should not exceed 150.

Yonhap News

Commander Gwak made this statement while attending the National Defense Committee's current affairs inquiry at the National Assembly on the same day, responding to People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Yong-won's question, "Was there an instruction that the number of members of the National Assembly should not exceed 150, and who gave that instruction?" He said, "While receiving a secure phone call in the Special Forces combat control room, I was informed that the number of people (members of the National Assembly) inside the National Assembly building should not exceed 100 to 150, and such instructions came down from above (the Minister of National Defense)."

He added, "Later, I found out that the microphone broadcast was probably on at that time," and explained, "Those instructions were directly transmitted to subordinate units, and methods to enter the plenary session hall, such as the use of blank cartridges and tasers, were also communicated as if they were to be used." He continued, "In fact, I did not give orders to use those; the instructions were transmitted via the microphone broadcast, which caused confusion among the subordinate units."

He stated, "After receiving those instructions, I explained the situation to the field unit commanders and discussed it, concluding that this was clearly restricted and wrong," implying that he did not comply with former Minister Kim's orders.

Previously, Army Chief of Staff Park An-su, who served as the martial law commander, claimed at the National Defense Committee on the 5th that Commander Gwak Jong-geun proposed the use of tasers and blank cartridges but was stopped; however, Commander Gwak denied this. In response to lawmaker Yoo's additional question, "When did you learn about the declaration of martial law?" Commander Gwak answered, "I saw it on TV, where President Yoon mentioned martial law, and subtitles appeared indicating that martial law had been declared, so I recognized it."