After commander’s tell-all testimony, South Korea’s National Assembly launches martial law probe

SEOUL – South Korea’s National Assembly has launched an investigation into

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec 3 martial law enactment

after a commander testified he received direct orders from him to detain lawmakers.

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik told reporters on Dec 11 that the commander’s testimony given at the Assembly national defence committee a day prior suggested Mr Yoon tried to block lawmakers from gathering to prevent them from exercising their constitutional duties.

“If the testimony is true, it means that the President was attempting to stop the National Assembly from voting to lift martial law – that is, to make it impossible for the Parliament to exercise its power by force,” the Assembly Speaker said.

Mr Woo said that on the night of martial law, the police blocked access to the Assembly and armed soldiers broke into the building where the plenary chamber is located, in an

apparent bid to hinder lawmakers from convening a vote.

“I myself, the Speaker, had to climb over a wall to get inside,” he said.

He said the Assembly would form a task force to carry out an investigation, which would be on top of other investigations handled by law enforcement, such as the police and prosecutors.

“The National Assembly was directly targeted by martial law imposed by the President. It is only appropriate that the Parliament (should) conduct its own investigation.”

Special Warfare Commander Lieutenant-General Kwak Jong-geun, whose troops were deployed to the Assembly shortly after Mr Yoon declared martial law, told lawmakers on Dec 10 that the South Korean President ordered him to “drag lawmakers out”.

According to Lt-Gen Kwak, Mr Yoon told the commander to “break open the door and drag them out” before enough lawmakers arrived at the chamber to reach the quorum required to vote down the martial law declaration.

Representative Park Beom-kye, with whom Lt-Gen Kwak filed for whistleblower protection, claimed the commander also knew of plans for a “state of emergency”

at least two days before the declaration of martial law

.

This contradicts claims from other military leaders, including General Park An-su, whom Mr Yoon appointed as martial law commander, saying they did not know about the martial law plans until the South Korean President’s televised address.

Lt-Gen Kwak said: “They are all saying they found out from TV. It looks like they came up with it beforehand.”

According to National Assembly Secretary-General Kim Min-ki, some 280 troops entered the Parliament grounds in the late hours of Dec 3. They left following a bipartisan vote to overturn martial law. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK