Special Forces Commander Called President Yoon Twice During Martial Law... Content Is "..."

Special Forces Commander Gwak Jong-geun revealed on the 10th that he spoke twice with President Yoon Seok-yeol at the time of the declaration of martial law. However, he remained silent about the content of the calls.

Yonhap News

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Commander Gwak appeared before the National Assembly's National Defense Committee for a current affairs inquiry and admitted to Democratic Party lawmaker Park Beom-gye's accusation that he spoke not once but twice with the president, saying, "I spoke twice." On the 6th, he met with Democratic Party lawmakers Kim Byung-joo and Park Seon-won at the Special Forces Command and said he had one call with President Yoon during the declaration of martial law, during which he asked about the location of Special Forces troops and was told they were "moving to the National Assembly." Commander Gwak refused to disclose the content of the second call despite repeated questions, stating, "I am restricted from speaking about it."

Regarding the night of the 3rd when martial law was declared, in response to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Yong-won asking whether there was an order that the number of lawmakers inside should not exceed 150 and who gave such an order, Gwak stated it was an order from former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun. Commander Gwak said, "While receiving a secure phone call in the Special Forces combat control room, I was informed that the number of people (lawmakers) inside the National Assembly should not exceed 100 to 150, and this order came from above (the Defense Minister)."

He added, "Later, I realized that the microphone broadcast was probably on at the time," explaining, "Such content was directly transmitted to subordinate units, and methods to enter the main assembly hall, including the use of blank cartridges and taser guns, were also transmitted as if they were to be used." He continued, "In reality, I did not issue an order to use those; the instructions were transmitted via microphone broadcast, which caused confusion among the subordinate units." He said, "After receiving the order, I explained the situation to the field unit commanders and discussed it, concluding that it was clearly restricted and wrong," implying that he did not carry out former Minister Kim's order.

Previously, Army Chief of Staff Park An-su, who served as the martial law commander, claimed at the National Defense Committee on the 5th that Commander Gwak proposed the use of taser guns and blank cartridges but was stopped, which Gwak denied.

When asked who ordered the standby of the 7th and 13th Airborne units under the Special Forces, Commander Gwak replied, "I gave the order when assigning the mission," adding, "It was a decision made independently." At the time of the martial law declaration, four Special Forces units?the 1st, 3rd, and 9th Airborne units and the 707th Special Mission Group?were dispatched to the National Assembly and the National Election Commission, while the 7th and 13th Airborne units were not dispatched. It is interpreted that he ordered the units close to Seoul to be deployed while instructing the 7th and 13th Airborne units, located in Jeonbuk and Chungbuk respectively, to remain on standby.

In response to a question from Jo Guk, a lawmaker from the Jo Guk New Party, asking whether a prosecutor from the Special Investigation Headquarters for Martial Law questioned him as if the conspiracy and execution of the martial law were centered around Kim Yong-hyun rather than Yoon Seok-yeol, he answered, "Yes."

The Special Investigation Headquarters for Martial Law summoned Commander Gwak to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office for questioning the previous day.

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