Commanders reveal martial law disobedience to protect citizens

[Anchor]

Since the declaration of martial law, key commanders who carried out operations at the National Assembly and other places are revealing the situation at that time one after another.

They stated that they did not follow the orders of the president or their superiors, considering the potential harm to citizens. Reporter Go Eun-hee investigated the reasons behind this series of conscience declarations.

[Report]

After the lifting of martial law, the commander of the Special Warfare Command and the commander of the Capital Defense Command disclosed the situation of the martial law operations during a meeting with opposition lawmakers, followed by the commander of the 1st Airborne Special Forces Brigade also participating in media interviews, and eventually, the commander of the 707th Special Missions Group stood in front of the camera.

[Kim Hyun-tae/Colonel/Head of the 707th Special Missions Group, Army Special Warfare Command: "At that time, I acted without knowing the situation, but I believe that not knowing is also my responsibility, and I apologize for putting my unit members in a situation that could be considered a crime of insurrection..."]

The commanders claimed that they initially carried out operations due to a lack of understanding of the martial law situation, but realized it was illegal and did not follow orders.

[Lee Sang-hyun/Commander of the 1st Airborne Special Forces Brigade/Dec. 6: "''This (the order to drag out lawmakers) seems to undermine political neutrality, so I thought it shouldn't be done,' so I told the battalion commander I was in contact with to step back for now..."]

Key commanders are making a kind of 'conscience declaration' one after another, asserting that they did not actively participate in the martial law.

Under criminal law, 'insurrection' is treated as 'rebellion' under military law, and even simple participants in rebellion can face imprisonment of up to seven years, leading to interpretations that this is a preemptive measure to avoid severe penalties.

As they all declared disobedience to higher orders, some conflicting statements also emerged.

For example, the commander of the 707th Special Missions Group stated that the Special Warfare Commander asked whether it was possible to drag out lawmakers, but the Special Warfare Commander's statement was different.

[Kwak Jong-geun/Special Warfare Commander/Dec. 6: "Dragging out lawmakers is illegal... I thought it would be disobedience since it was an order given to me, but that mission was not carried out."]

As investigations related to the martial law turmoil intensify, key commanders are rushing to provide related statements, and the credibility of their testimonies is expected to be clarified through the investigation.

This is KBS News Go Eun-hee.