Constitutional Court to Sequentially Question Witnesses Starting at 10 a.m. on the 6th
Focus on Testimony from Former Commander Kwak, Who Has Consistently Testified Against Yoon
Attention Also on Commander Kim's Statement Claiming "All 707 Unit Members Are Victims"
The Constitutional Court will conduct the 6th hearing of President Yoon Seok-yeol's impeachment trial on the 6th, targeting Kim Hyun-tae, commander of the Special Warfare Command 707 Special Mission Group, Kwak Jong-geun, former commander of the Army Special Warfare Command, and Park Chun-seop, economic chief of the Presidential Office. Following the testimony of Hong Jang-won, former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, attention is focused on the direction of statements that Commander Kim and former Commander Kwak will present regarding the situation during the December 3 emergency martial law.
The witnesses appearing at the Constitutional Court on this day are key figures such as commanders who mobilized military forces during the December 3 emergency martial law. The witness examination for Commander Kim will begin at 10:30 a.m., for former Commander Kwak at 2:00 p.m., and for Economic Chief Park at 3:30 p.m. The witness examination will be conducted alternately by the National Assembly side and President Yoon’s legal representatives. President Yoon is expected to have a separate opportunity to express his opinions after the questioning of each witness is completed, as was the case in the 5th hearing.
The main focus of the 6th hearing is the statements of former Commander Kwak, who consistently testified in opposition to President Yoon at the National Assembly. On the 4th, he appeared before the 'Special Committee for the Investigation of the Truth Behind the Charge of Rebellion through the Declaration of Emergency Martial Law under the Yoon Seok-yeol Government' held at the National Assembly and testified, "President Yoon directly called me on a secure phone and ordered me to 'pull out the personnel inside.'"
Regarding the testimony of former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, who appeared as a witness at the 4th impeachment trial hearing and stated, "It was not to pull out the members inside the National Assembly but to withdraw the agents," Kwak also clarified, "At the time when I was ordered to withdraw the agents, those personnel (agents) were not even inside the main building."
Attention is also on whether former Commander Kwak will provide additional testimony about President Yoon’s instructions and the martial law situation, which former Director of the Defense Counterintelligence Command Yeo In-hyung and Capital Defense Command Commander Lee Jin-woo refused to testify about during the 5th impeachment trial hearing due to ongoing criminal trials.
Kim Hyuntae, commander of the 707 Special Mission Group, is attending the plenary session of the "Special Committee on the National Investigation into the Alleged Insurrection through the Declaration of Martial Law by the Yoon Seok-yeol Administration" held at the National Assembly on the 14th. Photo by Kim Hyunmin
Additionally, the direction of testimony from Commander Kim, who stated that he deployed 197 unit members to the National Assembly for on-site command, is a major point of interest. Commander Kim claimed that he received orders immediately after the martial law to bring out the members of the National Assembly inside the National Assembly building and to prevent the number of assembly members from reaching the quorum of 150, shedding tears during his statement. He also stated, "All 707 unit members are victims. They are the most unfortunate victims exploited by former Minister of National Defense Kim."
Meanwhile, former Commander Kwak was arrested and indicted on charges including ordering the deployment of 197 troops from the 707 Special Mission Group and 269 troops from the 1st Airborne Special Forces Brigade to the National Assembly and ordering some troops to enter the National Assembly by climbing over the wall, following orders from former Minister Kim at the time of the emergency martial law declaration. Commander Kim appeared last month before the Special Investigation Headquarters on Emergency Martial Law (headed by Park Se-hyun, Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office chief) and was investigated.
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