The commander of South Korea’s special forces that stormed parliament last week after a martial law declaration says he was ordered to block MPs from entering the chamber to prevent a vote to lift the emergency measure.
Colonel Kim Hyun-tae, the commanding officer of the 707th Special Missions Group, told reporters he took full responsibility for his troops’ raid on parliament but said he was acting under orders from the defence minister.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is now a subject of a criminal investigation, declared martial law on Tuesday only to rescind the order within hours after parliament met in defiance of a security cordon to vote it invalid.
Yoon survived an impeachment vote in a opposition-led parliament on Saturday which plunged South Korea into a constitutional crisis.
Yoon said ahead of the vote he was entrusting his fate to the ruling party, but he did not offer to resign.
Kim said his unit landed on the grounds of parliament with orders to cordon off the main building to prevent lawmakers from entering but was met with legislative staff members inside who blocked their entrance.
“We were all victims who were used by the former defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun,” the commander told reporters outside the defence ministry in Seoul on Monday.
“The members of the group are not guilty. Their only guilt is that they followed the orders of their commander,” he said, fighting back tears.
The former defence minister was arrested on Sunday over his role in declaring martial law and ordering the deployment of troops to parliament.
The leader of Yoon’s People Power Party, Han Dong-hoon, said on Sunday that Yoon would be excluded from foreign and other state affairs, and the party and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would manage government affairs.
National Assembly speaker Woo Won-shik said it was unconstitutional to delegate presidential authority unless the president is impeached.
The main opposition Democratic Party, which led the failed impeachment motion on Saturday, said it would raise the motion again.
