South Korean army commander claims President Yoon ordered forceful removal of lawmakers During martial law

The chief of the Army Special Warfare Command Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun, revealed that President Yoon Suk Yeol had ordered him to forcibly remove lawmakers from the National Assembly building during last week’s martial law operations.

Kwak made the statement during a parliamentary defence committee meeting, explaining that Yoon had contacted him via a secure phone call, Caliber.Az reports citing Korean media.

According to Kwak, Yoon instructed him to enter the building and drag out any lawmakers still present, citing concerns that the quorum required to lift the martial law decree—150 out of 300 members—had not been met. Ultimately, 190 lawmakers voted to revoke the decree.

Kwak explained that he consulted with field commanders about whether to storm the building, either by forcibly entering or by cutting off power to prevent a vote. After receiving advice against such actions, Kwak agreed with their assessment.

"Even if they were to go inside to execute the order, the troops involved would later become lawbreakers and too many people would be injured if they broke their way in, so I judged it wasn't right," he said.

 He decided against further action, halting the operation once the troops withdrew.

When asked whether he reported this situation to Yoon, Kwak confirmed that he did not. Instead, he relayed the details to then-Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun as the operation was called off.

Kwak also shared with Rep. Park Beom-kye of the opposition Democratic Party (DP) that he had been aware of Yoon’s intention to impose martial law two days ahead of time, on December 1. Kwak did not disclose this information to the prosecution, as Park noted, adding that those involved in the martial law operations had already coordinated their statements.

Regarding his orders on December 1, Kwak said his mission was to secure six locations, including the National Assembly, three National Election Commission offices, the DP headquarters, and Flower Research, an opinion polling company. These orders were communicated to him by then-Defense Minister Kim via a secure landline.

Kwak said that while he was prepared for the possibility of martial law being enacted, he did not inform his subordinate commanders in advance to avoid implicating them. Instead, he briefed them only on the day of deployment. He also indicated that he believed the mission had more to do with front-line issues than the actual imposition of martial law.

When questioned about whether Yoon had used specific terms like "gun," "fire," "blanks," or "armored cars," Kwak clarified that he did not recall the president using such words.

By Vafa Guliyeva