707th Special Missions Group Commander holds press conference, insists group members are innocent

[Anchor]

As you have seen, the commander of the 707th Special Missions Group, which was deployed to the National Assembly on the day of the emergency martial law, held a press conference today (12.9).

He stated, "I received orders that there should not be more than 150 members of the National Assembly, and whether we could pull them out."

The troops deployed on site claimed to be victims exploited by former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, stating that he would take responsibility himself.

This is Song Geum-han reporting.

[Report]

Colonel Kim Hyun-tae, the commander of the 707th Special Missions Group under the Army Special Warfare Command, whose identity including face and name is classified as military secret, held a press conference.

He revealed that during the martial law, Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-kgeun called him every 1-2 minutes, and there was no mention of North Korea from the beginning.

The order given was to seal off two buildings: the National Assembly and the National Assembly Members' Hall.

The commander asked whether they could enter the National Assembly ahead of the vote on the proposal to lift the emergency martial law.

[Kim Hyun-tae/Colonel/Commander of the 707th Special Missions Group, Army Special Warfare Command: "I heard the members of the National Assembly are gathering, and it should not exceed 150. Block them, and if not, can you go in and pull them out? That was the nuance."]

The number of 150 members refers to a majority of the total members of the National Assembly, which is the minimum number required for the passage of the proposal to lift the martial law.

Colonel Kim believes that the higher authority behind this order given by the commander was former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.

He appealed for forgiveness from the 197 members who had entered the National Assembly, stating that the situation ended quickly and that this order was not communicated to them.

[Kim Hyun-tae/Colonel/Commander of the 707th Special Mission Group, Army Special Warfare Command: "All members of the 707th group are victims. They are the most unfortunate victims exploited by Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun. The group members are not at fault."]

He described himself as an irresponsible commander who led the troops into danger and stated that he would take full responsibility for the mistakes and leave the military voluntarily.

This is KBS News, reporting by Song Geum-han.