Nearly 300 troops stormed South Korean legislature, official says
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Military vehicles arriving outside the National Assembly in Seoul, after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, on Dec 4.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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SEOUL - The Secretary-General of South Korea’s National Assembly, Mr Kim Min-ki, condemned the military on the morning of Dec 4 for breaking into the legislature during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief imposition of martial law,
“I strongly condemn the illegal, unconstitutional actions of the military and the destruction it caused at the National Assembly premises due to President Yoon’s decree of martial law,” he said at a news briefing.
He vowed to seek legal remedies for the damage caused, and he said the police, who prevented some lawmakers from entering the building overnight, would be barred from the premises.
Mr Kim offered the most detailed official account yet of the military’s incursion. About 230 troops were flown by helicopter onto the assembly grounds, and roughly 50 others jumped fences to gain entry, he said. Mr Kim played closed-circuit footage of soldiers entering the compound, saying that all such video would soon be made public.
As the secretary-general, Mr Kim is nonpartisan, but he was a member of the opposition Democratic Party until spring.
Many South Koreans saw the military’s storming of the assembly as an attempt to arrest lawmakers, who are empowered by the Constitution to nullify a president’s declaration of martial law.
Legislative aides from both major parties barricaded entrances to the building with chairs and desks, apparently to give lawmakers time to pass such a resolution. Troops smashed windows, and some aides and protesters sprayed them with fire extinguishers, footage broadcast by the domestic news media showed.
The full extent of the damage was not immediately clear as at early afternoon on Dec 4.
Hours after Mr Yoon’s decree late on Dec 3, the 300-member assembly passed the resolution to rescind martial law by a vote of 190-0. The military soon retreated from the compound, and he convened his Cabinet to formally lift the declaration of martial law. NYTIMES
