On January 12, President Yoon reportedly instructed security officials on the potential use of weapons during a luncheon with senior security officials, following a similar statement the previous day. Yoon Kwan-young, a member of the Democratic Party and a former head of the Blue House Situation Room, held a press conference on January 13. Citing an internal tip-off from the Presidential Security Service, he claimed that President Yoon Seok-yeol had ordered security officials to use weapons, if necessary, to prevent police from apprehending him.
According to Yoon Kwan-young, during a luncheon attended by six senior security officials, President Yoon allegedly stated, “Even if you can’t use guns, carry knives to unconditionally stop those trying to arrest me.” The officials present included Kim Seong-hoon, the Deputy Chief, Lee Kwang-woo, the Head of Operations, and Kim Shin, the Head of Family Affairs.
Representative Yoon emphasized the gravity of the accusation, stating that if true, it would be shocking and hard to believe. He pointed out that the use of weapons by security personnel under the current circumstances would be a clear violation of security laws. He demanded that President Yoon clarify whether he had given such illegal orders.
Previously, a newspaper reported that President Yoon had instructed officials on January 11 to consider the use of force during the execution of a second arrest warrant by investigative agencies. This reportedly led to a collective backlash from senior security officials during a meeting the next morning. However, President Yoon allegedly repeated his instruction for two consecutive days, which Representative Yoon criticized as intimidation against the public.
In response, President Yoon’s side refuted these claims, labeling them as “fake news.” His legal representative, Yoon Gap-geun, issued a statement emphasizing that the President only stressed lawful conduct based on the standard operational manual and denied the accusation of issuing such directives.