More than 1,000 Soldiers Mobilized Under 'Emergency Martial Law'

Four Times More Troops Entered Parliament Than the 1,191 Personnel
President Yoon and Kim Yong-hyun Ordered Additional Troop Deployment

It has been confirmed that more than 1,000 troops were mobilized as martial law forces during President Yoon Seok-yeol's declaration of martial law. This is four times the number of National Assembly members (300).

According to data submitted by the Ministry of National Defense to the office of Heo Young, a member of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 11th, a total of 1,191 personnel were deployed as martial law forces. This includes 49 personnel from the Defense Counterintelligence Command (arrest team), 8 from the Intelligence Command, 211 from the Military Police Unit and 1st Security Group Commander under the Capital Defense Command (48 personnel entered the perimeter), 277 from the 1st Airborne Special Forces Brigade, 231 from the 3rd Airborne Special Forces Brigade, 211 from the 9th Airborne Special Forces Brigade, 197 from the 707 Special Mission Group (15 personnel controlling access to the National Assembly building), and 7 intelligence operatives from the HID (North infiltration operatives). Previously, Special Forces Commander Kwak Jong-geun testified that he was ordered by President Yoon to mobilize the 707 Special Mission Group and the 1st and 9th Airborne Brigades to blockade the National Assembly and forcibly remove lawmakers from the meeting hall.

The number of martial law troops mobilized is four times greater than the troops that entered the National Assembly. Kim Min-ki, Secretary General of the National Assembly, stated on the night of the 4th that about 280 martial law troops entered the National Assembly grounds in two waves. The Ministry of National Defense reportedly deployed armed martial law troops numbering about 230 into the National Assembly grounds via helicopter 24 times from 11:48 PM on the 3rd to 1:18 AM on the 4th, and separately, about 50 additional martial law troops crossed the National Assembly fence to enter the grounds, according to Secretary General Kim.

During an urgent inquiry on martial law held at the National Defense Committee in Yeouido, Seoul, the previous day, Representative Heo summoned Capital Defense Command Commander Lee Jin-woo and questioned, "You said troops were dispatched to protect and defend key national facilities, so when the Special Forces broke the windows of the National Assembly and entered, did you engage in combat with the Special Forces to protect the National Assembly?" In response to this criticism, Commander Lee replied, "It was not defense, but the mission was such."

Although the National Assembly passed a resolution demanding the lifting of martial law, there are claims that additional martial law troops were prepared. Representative Park Seon-won of the Democratic Party, a member of the National Defense Committee, claimed that on the second day of the emergency martial law declaration, the 7th Airborne Brigade in Iksan, Jeonbuk, and the 13th Airborne Brigade in Jeungpyeong, Chungbuk, were also preparing to deploy to Seoul. It is alleged that President Yoon Seok-yeol and former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun issued orders for additional troop deployment from the Joint Chiefs of Staff command and control room at the time the National Assembly passed the resolution to lift martial law.

There are also claims that the ‘868 Unit (868 Security Unit)’, responsible for President Yoon Seok-yeol’s security, was included among the martial law forces. The 868 Unit was named after its role in providing presidential security during the 1986 Seoul Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Its main mission is close protection of the president during external events. The commander of this unit is Im Sam-mook, the head of the 2nd Division of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, who was on a business trip to Poland at the time of the martial law declaration. If the 868 Unit was included in the martial law forces, it is highly likely that orders came from higher authorities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.