Kwak Jong-geun, former commander of the Army's Special Warfare Command, continued his existing statement that he was instructed by President Yoon Suk Yeol to bring down lawmakers when the Dec. 3 emergency martial law was declared. He refuted President Yoon's claim that he did not interfere with the lifting of the emergency martial law in the National Assembly. On the other hand, President Yoon said he did not mention "Rep.," referring to the claims of Hong Jang-won, former deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, and Kwak, former commander of the National Intelligence Service, and called them "impeachment operations."
Kwak, who appeared as a witness at the sixth hearing of the impeachment trial held for eight hours at the Constitutional Court on the 6th, argued that the lawmaker was the one President Yoon asked to bring down. Asked by the National Assembly whether it was the National Assembly member who ordered President Yoon to bring him out at the time, former commander Kwak replied, "Exactly right."
Former commander Kwak stated that there were two instructions he received at the time of martial law. The first was to secure and guard the facilities of the National Assembly, and the second was to bring down the lawmakers.
"At that time, the 707 Special Forces personnel were confronting in front of the main gate, and they were not inside the main building," former commander Kwak said. "Because I answered the phone in that state, I understood it as a member of the National Assembly." However, he explained that the expression he heard directly from President Yoon was, "It seems that the quorum of the decision is not in place yet, so go in and pull out the personnel even if you break the door."
He also argued that it was his decision to withdraw troops from the National Assembly at the time of martial law. He said he had never received an order from former Minister Kim regarding the withdrawal. The statement contradicts President Yoon's claim that he ordered former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and martial law commander Park An-soo to withdraw immediately immediately after the National Assembly voted to lift martial law.
President Yoon himself refuted the claim. "(Former commander Kwak) understood me as a lawmaker, but I didn't use that word," he said. "And I've never used the word 'person' if I'm a lawmaker, I'm a lawmaker."
He added, "It is basic to say that it is difficult to implement the supervisor's instructions along with realistic conditions, rather than immediately saying that they are unfair," adding, "I hope the judges will look into what kind of top-level relationship is possible to suddenly call and instruct them to 'stop the decision-making quorum' and 'get it out'."
In particular, President Yoon said, "Looking at the situation the day before yesterday and today, it seems that this very frame of rebellion and impeachment began with the appearance of Hong Jang-won's Duke and Special Forces Commander Kim Byung-ju TV on December 6," and added, "It can only be seen that there is some intention to pretend to hide it for the president and then go to the prosecution to talk about it all."
Meanwhile, Kim Hyun-tae, head of the 707 Special Task Force of the Army's Special Warfare Command, who was commanded by Kwak during the emergency martial law, stated, "We were not instructed by the former commander Kwak to bring down lawmakers." Regarding the contents of the phone call with former commander Kwak, he said, "I said, "I can't go in if there are more than 150 people, but I can't go in." He said, "I said, "No, I can't go in anymore." However, he stated that he did not know at the time that 150 people meant lawmakers.
The cable tie, which was reportedly carried to arrest a lawmaker, was also claimed to be intended to block the door. He said that the horror bullets, which the members collected 10 rounds per person, were provided for training purposes, and that the suspicion that they were armed with live ammunition or deployed snipers was not true.
In this regard, former commander Kwak told Lee Sang-hyun, commander of the 1st Airborne Brigade, "Even if you break the door with an axe, go inside and pull it out." Regarding the contents of the indictment, which said "President's order," he said, "I didn't order this, but I just discussed with my staff what the president and former Minister Kim ordered."
The microphone was turned on at the time of command in the battle control room, and through this, the instructions of the president and former minister Kim were shared with other personnel. Kwak claimed that he was instructed by former Minister Kim to block access to the National Assembly so that there were no more than 150 lawmakers.
In addition, the Democratic Party of Korea commented on President Yoon's claim of "impeachment" and criticized, "Do you blame others for civil war?" and "It's really cowardly to criticize testimony based on conscience as a maneuver to avoid self-responsibility." On the other hand, the People's Power continued to criticize the Constitutional Court, saying, "The unconstitutional court that repeats its unconstitutional behavior should be dismantled."