Suspicions Rise Over Deployment of Ordinary Soldiers to Block President Yoon's Arrest
Mother of 55th Security Group Soldier: "Why Use Them as Human Shields?"
"Asked Whether Disobeying Orders or Obstructing Official Duties Is Punished More"
Amid suspicions that ordinary soldiers from the 55th Security Group of the Army Capital Defense Command were mobilized to block the execution of an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk-yeol on the 3rd, the voice of a mother with a son in the 55th Security Group was made public. On the 9th, JTBC reported, "On the morning of the 3rd, when the Security Office blocked the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HOCI) and the police, a mother, Ms. A, who has a son working in the 55th Security Group, said she was very shocked by the surreal situation."
On the morning of the 9th, near the main gate of the Presidential Residence in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, people presumed to be security personnel for the residence are changing shifts. Photo by Yonhap News
Ms. A said, "I couldn't get in touch with my child from the morning. The only source of information was TV," adding, "I watched it with a really anxious heart." Regarding the soldiers of the 55th Security Group who stood as human shields to block the HOCI investigators at the time, she lamented, "They were bullet shields, that's what they were," and said, "How could my son, whom I raised, be used as a bullet shield like that? It's really absurd." She continued, "More than anything else, my biggest worry was that they might get hurt," and told JTBC, "I was so baffled and outraged as to why ordinary soldiers were placed there like some kind of shield."
According to Ms. A, her son once asked, "Mom, is the punishment for disobeying orders heavier? Or is the punishment for obstructing official duties heavier?" Ms. A said, "Why does my child have to worry about that there? What wrong has my child done? Why are they putting the kids in such a mess?" She added, "If I could really bring him back, I would immediately pull him out from there and take him home. I am so angry that my hands and feet are trembling."
The police suspect that the 33rd Military Police Unit, under the command of the Security Office, and soldiers from the 55th Security Group were used to block the arrest of President Yoon. However, the Security Office denied the suspicion of deploying soldiers, stating, "When the HOCI arrived, anticipating an escalation in confrontation, the 55th Security Group's conscripted soldiers were reassigned to rear duties and replaced by Security Office staff."
As a second attempt to execute the arrest warrant for President Yoon is expected soon, on the 8th, the Ministry of National Defense conveyed the position that the 55th Security Group assigned to the Security Office should not be mobilized to block the arrest of President Yoon. In response, the Security Office reportedly replied with an acknowledgment, saying, "Understood."
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