Ex-Commander Kwak refutes Yoon’s ‘warning martial law’ claim: ‘Bloodshed was avoided thanks to soldiers’ restraint’

Former Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun listens intently to a lawmaker\'s questions with a grave expression during a hearing at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on January 14. / Reporter Park Min-kyu

Former Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun said that the martial law declared by former President Yoon Suk-yeol did not escalate into large-scale bloodshed “thanks to the restraint and judgment of the soldiers on the ground.”

In an interview with the Kyunghyang Shinmun on June 16, Kwak said, “Until 10:30 p.m. on the night of December 3 last year, I did not utter a single word about martial law to my troops.” He suspected from two days earlier that the president might declare emergency martial law, but he told no one around him. As a result, no members of the special forces were aware of the martial law in advance, and Kwak implied that his subordinates bore no responsibility for its enforcement.

Kwak emphasized that even though the military's "elite units" were deployed to the National Assembly on the day martial law was declared, the absence of civilian casualties was due to the soldiers’ restraint. Though there were spontaneous clashes with citizens trying to block the troops’ entry into the National Assembly, resulting in injuries to some soldiers, he said, “It ended at that level because the soldiers controlled themselves and held back.”

Armed soldiers attempt to enter the main building of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, in the early hours of December 4 last year, shortly after midnight, following former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of unlawful martial law. / Reporter Sung Dong-hoon

Former President Yoon has claimed that the absence of casualties among civilians was due to his intention for martial law to serve as a “warning to maintain order.” Kwak said this claim was what prompted him to come forward with his conscience. “The outcome, the avoidance of bloodshed, was the result of the soldiers’ actions, but I felt the former president and former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun were trying to steal the credit,” he said. “The moment I heard about the so-called ‘warning martial law,’ I thought, ‘So now they are starting to frame what the soldiers did well as something that happened because of their own instructions,’” he said.

Kwak was the first to reveal that Yoon had ordered troops to “drag out lawmakers” from the National Assembly before it had voted to lift martial law. Kwak was indicted on charges including involvement in a major insurrection for his role in deploying troops to the National Assembly, but was released on bail on April 4. He continues to stand trial in a military court. The court reportedly granted bail because Kwak admitted all charges and was not deemed a flight or evidence destruction risk.

Unlike other military officers involved, Kwak has acknowledged his responsibility in court and is seeking leniency. “If those two (Yoon and Kim) had even the slightest intention of protecting the military, things wouldn’t have escalated to such extremes,” he said. “I’ve endured up to now thinking, ‘No matter what anyone says, I’ll see this through to the end.’” His resolve played a decisive role in Yoon’s eventual impeachment.

“If former President Yoon had returned to office, I don’t think I’d be here today,” Kwak said, recalling the day Yoon was removed from power.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.