707 Special Officer "Instructions to Block 150 Members" First Testimony

[Anchor]
Kim Hyun-tae, who led the 707 Special Task Force that entered the National Assembly at the time of emergency martial law,

made his first statement in front of the media and testified specifically about the circumstances at the time.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense said in a briefing today that, by law, the president has the authority to head the military.

For more information, I'll connect you with a reporter from the Ministry of National Defense.

Reporter Park Hee-jae,
The 707th Special Forces, a martial law force that entered the
National Assembly, did the commander publicly testify to the circumstances at the time?

[Reporter]
Yes, first of all, it is called the 707 Special Task Force, officially called the 707 Special Task Force,

This is the core of the martial law army that was put into the National Assembly during the December 3 martial law.

This morning, Kim Hyun-tae, head of the Special Forces, volunteered to hold a press conference near the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan, Seoul.

The most noticeable testimony in the one-hour press conference and the subsequent Q&A was

I was told not to gather more than 150 lawmakers in the National Assembly.

This order came from the commander of the higher unit, former Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun,
Kim Hyun-tae explained that the order was issued based on the order of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun at the time of
based on the atmosphere at the time.

Let's listen to it for a moment.

[Kim Hyun-tae / 707 Special Officer (at the time, martial law army) : I think it was between 12:00 and 12:30 p.m. (The former commander) asked if he could go in and pull it out, and I think it was during that time that 150 members of the National Assembly are gathering now, and he said, "We shouldn't gather.")

In response, Kim Hyun-tae, who was at the National Assembly site, testified that he reported that he could not enter because of the large number of people at the time.

In addition, the content to draw lawmakers and other personnel from the National Assembly,

It also said that there was a specific order to suppress and block the National Assembly with non-lethal weapons.

General Manager Kim Hyun-tae stressed that the 707 Special Task Force is the most unfortunate victim used by former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.

At the same time, the troops only followed their command,

Everyone said they would be responsible for any legal liability.

On the other hand, the process of disclosing this position was not smooth.

Last Friday, the National Assembly's defense committee planned to make its position public, but

Aborted for dubious reasons,

The testimony was completely kept secret from the preparation to the process of moving to the site of the press conference, he added.

General manager Kim explained the purpose of the conference, saying, "After this incident, we will hold ourselves guilty and disclose our position with the discharge in mind."

[Anchor]
I'm also interested in this news.

There was a comment saying that the president has the right to command the military, but what kind of situation did it come from?

[Reporter]
Yes, it came from a regular briefing held by the Ministry of National Defense at 10:30 a.m.

Here, the Defense Department says that the president now officially has the right to command the military.

This came out in the process of a reporter answering a question.

He then added this to the question of whether the suspect in the rebellion could have the right to lead the military.

The situation at the time, take a look at it for yourself.

[Ha Young-kyu / Pentagon Press Secretary] (Who has the command of the national army?) The president has it. Are you asking me to judge whether the suspect of the rebellion can have the command of the South Korean military? Legally, it's now with the commander-in-chief.

In this way, the Ministry of National Defense explained the purpose of the remarks, saying, "Yes to legal authority."

In addition, when asked who the martial law declaration authority was when the wartime situation occurred,

I added that nothing has changed who has that right.

At the same time, there were questions about whether the military prosecution had any plans to arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol.

In response, the Ministry of National Defense said, "I understand that the investigation is currently underway."

So far, I'm YTN Park Heejae from the Ministry of National Defense.