[Exclusive]Coast Guard role in martial law

[Anchor]

KBS has confirmed that during the Dec. 3 martial law incident, a senior Coast Guard official also attempted to participate in the martial law command structure.

He actively pushed for measures ranging from arming personnel with firearms to dispatching investigative officers, and it has been found that he had long maintained ties with key figures in the martial law operation as their high school junior.

Reporter Jung Sang-bin has the exclusive.

[Report]

On Dec. 3 last year, right after former President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, the first to move were the Army Special Warfare Command, theDefense Counterintelligence Command, and the police.

["Don’t come in! Stay out!! You can’t come here."]

KBS has now learned that the Korea Coast Guard—another national security agency—also sought to join the “martial law” effort.

The figure behind these moves was Ahn Sung-sik, the Coast Guard’s Policy and Planning Director, considered its third-highest-ranking officer.

Ahn reportedly instructed frontline officers to arm themselves with firearms “in preparation for an emergency” and argued in an emergency meeting chaired by the commissioner that investigative officers should be sent immediately to the martial law command.

When the leadership in charge of investigations pushed back, calling it “overstepping authority,” Ahn is said to have raised his voice in a heated argument.

Given Ahn’s role overseeing personnel, budgets, and training, his actions have fueled internal suspicion that he had been tipped off in advance about the martial law plan.

[Coast Guard official/Voice altered: "If you went to Choongam High School, that says everything. He was close enough to attend gatherings hosted by Minister Lee Sang-min."]

Ahn graduated from Choongam High School and Seoul National University and was the first Coast Guard officer ever dispatched to a presidential transition committee.

After Yoon became president, Ahn worked in the Presidential Office’s National Situation Room.

He was also acquainted with Choongam High School alumni such as former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, and former Defense Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung, all of whom are now in custody on charges of engaging in “important duties related to insurrection.”

Ahn has denied prior discussions about martial law with his seniors, saying he merely offered suggestions based on his legal background as a bar exam passer familiar with the Martial Law Act.

This is KBS News, Jung Sang-bin.