[Exclusive] Intelligence commander to be questioned on direct orders from former Defense Minister

[Anchor]

In the Democratic Party, it is believed that the Counterintelligence Command played a key role behind the recent declaration of martial law, and that preparations had already been underway beforehand, while Commander Yeo In-hyung denied the related allegations.

In this context, it has been confirmed through KBS reporting that the personnel who entered the National Election Commission immediately after President Yoon's declaration of martial law were affiliated with the Defense Intelligence Command.

This is a report by Kim Yong-jun.

[Report]

Shortly after President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law, around 10:31 PM on the 3rd, soldiers arrived at the Central Election Commission and filmed internal equipment.

Given the circumstances, this could only be executed if they had prior knowledge of the martial law. KSB reporting has identified that these soldiers were affiliated with the Defense Intelligence Command.

Military sources revealed that former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun directly instructed the intelligence commander to dispatch intelligence personnel to the Election Commission.

In relation to this, it has been uncovered that the heads of intelligence agencies, including Chairman Kim Myung-soo of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Intelligence Headquarters, were completely unaware of the situation.

It is reported that Deputy Minister of Defense Kim Sun-ho and others became aware of the related content belatedly today (Dec. 8) and are considering measures to suspend the intelligence commander from duty.

In the future investigation process, it is expected that the intelligence commander will be questioned about when he received related instructions from the former minister and what specific instructions he received.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party lawmaker Choo Mi-ae claimed that signs of prior collusion regarding the martial law had been detected and released documents as evidence.

The document includes general information related to the declaration of martial law, as well as analyses of key issues related to whether the President has the authority to refuse if the National Assembly demands the lifting of martial law, and whether the martial law commander can appoint the chiefs of each military branch.

Lawmaker Choo asserted that this document was prepared under the direction of Commander Yeo In-hyung last month.

[Choo Mi-ae/Democratic Party lawmaker: "He made it seem like he did something absurd as a warning against the National Assembly from great dissatisfaction (of the National Assembly budget), trying to cover it up as a spontaneous and accidental act, but..."]

In this regard, Commander Yeo's side stated that they became aware of the martial law after seeing the TV news reports and reiterated their denial of the related allegations.

Additionally, they mentioned that the document released by lawmaker Choo appears to be a review of legal issues regarding the operation of the joint headquarters for typical wartime martial law duties, but stated that they have no recollection of receiving such a report.

They mentioned that even on the day of the martial law declaration, there was no emergency standby order. They had called the head of the counterintelligence investigation team, who had left work, at around 9:20 PM for investigative measures related to an incident that occurred the night before, not related to the martial law.

Commander Yeo's side clarified to KBS that the incident involved a non-commissioned officer from a certain unit who confessed to having handed over confidential and important materials to a hacking organization in exchange for a large sum of money.

This is KBS News, Kim Yong-jun.