President Yoon denies intent to paralyze National Assembly

[Anchor]

Now, we will analyze the contents of President Yoon's address in detail.

In today's (12.12) address, there were several statements that contradicted the testimonies and facts related to the martial law.

First, he stated that there was no intention to paralyze the National Assembly and that only troops to maintain order were deployed. This will be examined by reporter Yoo Ho-yoon.

[Report]

[“I did not prevent National Assembly officials from entering, and it is evident that I did not intend to dissolve or paralyze the National Assembly.”]

Contrary to President Yoon's statement that access to the National Assembly was not blocked, access was controlled from 10:46 PM to 11:06 PM and again from 11:37 PM on the night of December 3.

[Cho Ji-ho/Police Commissioner/Dec. 5: “After the announcement of martial law, I instructed the Seoul Metropolitan Police to take necessary measures in preparation for any unexpected situations at the National Assembly.”]

He claimed that there was no intention to paralyze the National Assembly, but the words of the on-site commanders tell a different story.

[Kwak Jong-keun/Army Special Warfare Commander/Dec. 10: “(President Yoon) said, 'It seems that the quorum for the resolution has not been met yet, so quickly break down the door and pull out the people inside.'”]

In particular, the attempt to arrest about ten politicians, including the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties and the Speaker of the National Assembly, is analyzed as an effective attempt to dissolve the National Assembly.

Yoon claimed that he directly instructed the withdrawal of troops after the martial law was lifted, but the military's account differs.

[Kwak Jong-keun/Army Special Warfare Commander/Dec. 10: “I did not report to the President, and when we withdrew, I informed the former Minister of National Defense about the current situation and withdrew.”]

There have been testimonies that the prevention of the martial law troops from taking control of the National Assembly and the absence of casualties were due to the judgment of the on-site commanders who were prepared to disobey orders.

[Kwak Jong-keun/Army Special Warfare Commander/Dec. 10: “There was the issue of troops being considered criminals, and if they forcibly broke in, too many people could be injured, so I judged it would not be right.”]

[Lee Sang-hyun/Commander of the 1st Airborne Special Forces Brigade: “I thought it would be inappropriate as it would undermine political neutrality, so I instructed the battalion commander I was in contact with to pull back for now.”]

President Yoon claimed that the troops mobilized during the martial law were few and only for maintaining order in the National Assembly, but the Democratic Party countered that the total number of martial law troops exceeded 1,300.

This is KBS News, Yoo Ho-yoon.