“Receiving calls from Kwak Jong-geun every 1-2 minutes”
‘If there are over 150 members, it can’t be allowed…can you take them out?’ contact as well
Kim Hyun-tae, commander of the 707th Special Mission Group of the Special Forces, holds a press conference in front of the War Memorial in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 9th. /News1
On the 9th, Colonel Kim Hyun-tae, the commander of the 707th Special Mission Group of the Special Forces that was deployed to the National Assembly during the emergency martial law situation on the 3rd, publicly revealed his face and name and held a press conference. Kim stated, “All members of the 707 unit are victims and the most unfortunate victims used by former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.”
During an urgent press conference held in front of the War Memorial in Yongsan, Seoul, Kim expressed with a heavy heart, “I deeply apologize to the people of our nation. The unit members are not to blame. If there is blame, it is only for following an incompetent commander.”
According to Kim’s description of the situation, he received a contact at about 10:30 PM on the 3rd, right after President Yoon declared emergency martial law, from former Army Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun, asking if immediate deployment was possible, and began moving via helicopter. He was also instructed to blockade two buildings, namely the National Assembly building and the Assembly Members’ Hall. Kim then devised a plan to enter the Assembly and block the entrances, but both the main and rear doors were blocked, so he instructed breaking windows to enter the interior.
At that time, Kim stated,“I received calls every 1-2 minutes from former Commander Kwak, and he was saying something like, ‘If the number of assembly members inside exceeds 150, it’s not allowed. Can you remove them?’” He recalled hearing this between 12:30 AM and 1 AM on the 4th.
Kim said, “It seemed like they were concerned about the passing of a motion to lift martial law” and added, “The commander asked if the number of assembly members was increasing and if it was possible to enter if the number exceeded 150. I answered that entering was difficult.” According to Article 77(5) of the Constitution, if the National Assembly requests lifting martial law with the approval of a majority of the total assembly members, numbering 150, the president must immediately lift martial law.
Kim detailed that former Minister Kim, through former Commander Kwak, issued specific operational directives. He said, “After receiving the first call from the (Special Forces) commander until it ended, I received over 30 calls. This means that including other brigade commanders, Commander Kwak made over 100 calls during an hour and a half period. As far as I confirmed, the former Defense Minister continued making calls to the command control center, and the control center was busy relaying those calls.”
Additionally, Kim explained the armed state of the troops deployed to the National Assembly in detail. He stated, “The only weapons carried were individual tasers and blank cartridges. They were not mounted on personal firearms,” and instructed to bring shields and cable ties for detaining people. He also mentioned that live ammunition for the 8 personnel boarding one helicopter was stored collectively, with each member equipped with 10 rounds of 5.56 mm and 10 rounds of 9 mm ammunition.