"Yoon Said, 'Can't We Just Fire a Gun Once to Prevent Arrest'... Former Security Official Testifies in Court"

Trial on Additional Charges by the Special Counsel on Insurrection
Former Presidential Security Service Official Testifies
"Yoon Also Ordered Deletion of Secure Phone Records of Military Commanders," Witness Says

Testimony has emerged in court stating that former President Yoon Seok-yeol made remarks to the effect of "Can't we just use guns?" in an attempt to prevent his arrest following the declaration of martial law last year.

Former President Yoon Seok-yeol is attending the trial on charges of obstructing the execution of official duties at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul, on the 26th.

Kim Daegyeong, former head of the Support Headquarters at the Presidential Security Service, appeared as a witness at the continued trial of former President Yoon on charges including obstruction of official duties, held by the 35th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Baek Daehyun) on the 10th, and gave this testimony.

Kim testified that after the first attempt by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials to arrest former President Yoon was thwarted last year, he was asked, "Did former Security Headquarters Chief Lee Gwangwoo request a .38-caliber revolver, saying, 'We need to fire blank rounds to scare them'?" He replied, "That's correct. It was not just a request from Chief Lee alone; former Security Service Chief Park Jongjun also made the request together."

Kim further testified that former President Yoon seemed to have made remarks suggesting that firing blank rounds would be sufficient to prevent the execution of the arrest warrant. Kim recalled that at the National Assembly’s Special Committee on the Investigation of the Truth of the Insurrection in February, former Chief Park Jongjun said, "I tried to persuade the President to appear before the investigative authorities, but he refused. The President said, 'Wouldn't it be enough to fire a gun just once?'"

When the special investigation team on insurrection asked, "Are you saying he meant to fire live rounds at those executing the warrant?" Kim answered, "I can't say for certain, but I understood it as referring to blank rounds."

Kim also testified that former President Yoon instructed the deletion of records from secure phones belonging to military commanders-including former Capital Defense Command Commander Lee Jinwoo, former Defense Security Command Chief Yeo Inhyeong, and former Special Warfare Command Commander Kwak Jonggeun-in an effort to destroy evidence.

When asked, "On December 6, 2024, did the secretary to former Security Service Chief Park say, 'The Chief wants you to delete the secure phone issuance records and call logs'?" Kim replied, "Yes." He added, "I asked if this was an order from the President, and former Chief Park said, 'How did you know?'"

Kim stated, "I told him, 'There could be legal issues,' but former Chief Park said, 'I will take responsibility.' However, the deletion (of the records) was not carried out."

Kim explained, "I judged the order to be illegal and unjust, so I did not delete the records. Generally, I understand that it is legally problematic for a server administrator to remotely delete data from a user's device. Furthermore, I believed that arbitrarily deleting materials that could serve as evidence after the declaration of martial law could constitute destruction of evidence."

Meanwhile, on this day, former President Yoon did not appear in court, submitting a statement of absence due to health reasons. The court proceeded with the trial by examining evidence outside of the scheduled hearing.