Kim Yong-hyun downplays Yoon's role

[Anchor]

Former Minister Kim also denied the allegations of instructing to remove lawmakers from the National Assembly.

He stated that contrary to the testimonies of officials, he meant to extract agents, not lawmakers.

He also denied any involvement of President Yoon.

Continuing with reporter Lee Ho-jun.

[Report]

During the emergency martial law, former Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun deployed over 400 special forces to the National Assembly.

Two days after the lifting of martial law, he described the situation at that time.

[Kwak Jong-geun/Former Special Warfare Commander/Dec. 6, 2024: "(Kim Yong-hyun) the former minister instructed to extract the personnel inside the National Assembly, the lawmakers, outside."]

However, today (1.23), former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun claimed that he instructed to extract agents, not lawmakers.

[Song Jin-ho/Lawyer/President Yoon's side: "Is it correct that the instruction to extract 'agents' due to concerns over casualties was misrepresented by National Assembly member Kim Byeong-ju as an instruction to extract 'lawmakers'?"]

[Kim Yong-hyun/Former Minister: "Yes, that's correct."]

He stated that he planned the deployment of troops around the National Assembly and did not report to President Yoon Suk Yeol.

He also claimed that President Yoon did not instruct the arrest of major political figures.

[Kim Yong-hyun/Former Minister: "It was not an instruction to arrest, but were instructions to pay close attention to a few individuals who were suspected of violating the proclamation."]

He mentioned that President Yoon expressed doubts about the execution of martial law by stating that only a small number of troops would be deployed after the declaration of martial law, which contradicts the prosecution's allegations.

The prosecution reports that President Yoon instructed to "extract them even if it means shooting" and said regarding major political figures, "This is a chance to capture them all."

This also contradicts the previous testimonies of related individuals, including former National Intelligence Service Deputy Director Hong Jang-won.

[Hong Jang-won/Former National Intelligence Service Deputy Director/Jan. 22/National Assembly National Investigation Special Committee: "I wanted to do everything the president instructed. But when I saw that list (of those to be arrested), I thought that shouldn't be done."]

Former Commander Kwak and former Deputy Director Hong are scheduled to appear as witnesses at the trial next month.

KBS News, Lee Ho-jun.