Special Warfare Commander Says President Yoon Told Him to Drag Lawmakers Out of National Assembly to Prevent Vote
I still find it amazing that President Yoon was convinced that the military would go along with his martial law plan. Young Soldiers today in the ROK army grew up socialized against another Gwangju Uprising incident and want no part of being involved in one today:
The chief of the Army Special Warfare Command said Tuesday he was ordered by President Yoon Suk Yeol to drag out lawmakers from the National Assembly building during martial law operations last week.
Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun made the claim during a parliamentary defense committee meeting, saying Yoon called him on a secured phone.
“He said the quorum didn’t appear to be met yet, so I should break down the doors, and go in and drag out the people inside,” he said.
The commander was referring to the quorum for lifting Yoon’s martial law decree, which is 150 of the 300 members of parliament. Ultimately, 190 lawmakers voted unanimously to lift the order.
Kwak said he consulted with commanders in the field about whether to storm into the parliamentary building while firing blanks or cut off power to stop the lawmakers from voting.
The commanders advised against such actions, and Kwak said he agreed with their judgment.
“Even if they were to go inside to execute the order, the troops involved would later become lawbreakers and too many people would be injured if they broke their way in, so I judged it wasn’t right,” he said.
You can read more at the link, but Lt. Gen. Kwak also said that President Yoon never told them use or fire their weapons.
Premature conclusion. This is an outdated story. There were three calls from Yoon to the special forces commander, not two, as this has been found out later. The third call, which that commander failed to reveal, ordered them to fire the weapons and kill the lawmakers if they resisted.
And the commanders who were Yoon appointed loyalists, knew all along the coup plan, weeks prior to D-Day. They did not speak out.
What saved South Korea was the South Korean people along with the 192 Democrat and 18 PPP politicians who rushed to the National Assembly to defend the assembly. The soldiers on the ground (not the commanders) were mostly the ones who disobeyed their orders. The commanders are now ratting each other out, while making excuses, trying to fend for themselves.
This is what happens when one man with too much power, is allowed to appoint his own loyalist men in many key positions in power (against much opposition from the Democrats who were all labeled as lefitst commies) to eliminate all the checks and balances that were in place to prevent something like this from happening.
This is what Donald Trump is doing the same in the US. This is not going to end well.
Yoon was simply ahead of the curve. Korean politics over the last couple of decades have trended towards physical altercations (actual fights in the assembly) and polarization. The legislative deadlocks and lawfare has been getting worse for a while now. Frequent calls for constitutional changes, both successful and unsuccessful have led to fear and suspicion. High profile attempted political assassinations ups the ante. It’s very clear the “democratic” system is in the process of breaking down and is very unstable, and we see that with the frequent palace coups (impeachment attempts) and now the attempted martial law.
20 years ago, had the president ordered martial law like what happened this month, chances are the helicopters wouldn’t have even taken off. Chances are it would’ve been absolutely unthinkable to even suggest it. Gwangju was indeed too fresh on the mind. The fact that the military even went along with the orders to the unenthusiastic extent they did points to a shift. I’m betting that by 2030, this incident will be seen in a similar light of Jan 6. First with widespread disapproval with a small minority core of support, then largely through a partisan lens, and eventually as a good idea for future plans.
Lee Jae-Myung is likely to be SK’s next president. His policy goals are extremely controversial, and he’s bringing with him extensive legal baggage. Some have called him Korea’s Trump, but that’s the Beltway myopia speaking. He’s far more aptly described as Korea’s Lula da Silva. In fact, SK’s politics in general are looking pretty Brazilian these days, and a similar history of military rule, reconciliation difficulties, and coup plotting also makes for an almost analogous comparison. All of this doesn’t point to stability, but greater problems in the future.
Quite the contrary, this could end perfectly.
This is a disgrace to the Korean military, most Koreans have lost total faith in their military. Failure to carry out correct and legal orders, disgusting. Suspect the Korean spec ops community is a hot bed for nk commie sympathizers in the officer ranks.
I guess now is a good time to remind Korean Man that claiming wartime powers during peacetime is perfectly within American political traditions.
Lincoln used a private militia to provide security, shut down dissenting newspapers, and detain and arrest political opponents years before the Civil War broke out with the Wide Awakes. They called him a tyrant back then, and now he’s considered one of the greatest presidents in US history. Similarly, FDR was a wartime leader years before war even broke out.
That’s quite the inauguration speech isn’t it? FDR likewise exercised many executive powers to strong arm congress, shut down dissent, and impose policies that are still slowly being found unconstitutional today. Both Lincoln and FDR performed regime changes. Trump is likewise gearing up for regime change, but time will tell if he’s successful.
Korea hasn’t been operating on the basis of legality for a while now. The concept doesn’t exist like it does in the US. It ultimately boils down to a question of perceived authority, which Yoon had trouble establishing from day one.
It’s not true. Yoon’s commanders were handpicked for their high positions for their loyalty and trust, even if their abilities were highly questionable. They went along with Yoon’s coup plan by keeping the plan secret for months. That included numerous attempts to goad North Korea into attacking South Korea including sending drones to Pyeongyang to provoke North Korea. After months of meticulous planning, they carried out their orders on the night of Dec 3. So it’s ridiculous to say that Yoon had trouble establishing trust with his men. What failed them was that they didn’t expect the ground forces – the actual grunts who were supposed to carry out the orders refused to obey their commanders who ordered to either arrest or kill the opposition party leaders.
@GrayBlack, first of all I always appreciate your thoughtful comment. Lula da Silva is a great comparison for Lee. The martial law attempt needs to be harshly condemned because if Lee takes power and wants to do the same thing, does anyone think he would do it as incompetently as Yoon? Lee is many things, but I would not call him incompetent. The condemnation of martial law needs to be harsh enough that someone will not think of doing it again.