Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun attends a Cabinet meeting on Dec. 3. (Yonhap)
Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun attends a Cabinet meeting on Dec. 3. (Yonhap)

President ordered to break into parliament with guns, axes, prosecutors say

The prosecution on Friday indicted former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun on charges of insurrection and abuse of power, making him the first among those involved in the Dec. 3 martial law declaration to face charges.

Prosecutors say they discovered that Kim made attempts to seal off the National Assembly to prevent the lawmakers from passing the motion to revoke the emergency martial law declaration and ordered the martial law troops to arrest the specific individuals. The authorities confirmed that President Yoon Suk Yeol and Kim planned the imposition of martial law as early as November this year.

The prosecution told reporters through its statement that Kim called Lt. Gen. Lee Jin-woo, the chief of the Capital Defense Command, ordering Lee and his forces to head to the areas nearby the National Assembly building and stop the voting.

The authorities added that Kim called Lee multiple times to scold him, questioning why Lee couldn't go inside the Assembly building or arrest the lawmakers.

Prosecutors confirmed the Army Special Warfare Command and the 707th Special Mission Group were deployed in the military action with the president ordering them to “get inside and bring them (lawmakers) out even if you have to break the door with an ax," and "drag them out, even if you have to shoot."

The prosecution also said the former Minister Kim ordered Yeo In-hyung, former chief of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, to arrest and detain 10 key individuals at the B1 bunker, the Army Capital Defense Command’s key military installation that functions as the de facto wartime command center during emergencies.

The prosecutors confirmed that Kim told Yeo to prioritize arresting National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, then ruling People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon and the main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung.

The special investigation unit revealed that Kim tried to control the National Election Commission, a state-run facility located in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, seize its server, and arrest major NEC officials as well.