Troops cut off power at National Assembly during martial law, lawmakers say
Published : Feb. 16, 2025 - 15:24:47 Updated : Feb. 16, 2025 - 17:53:08
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Published : Feb. 16, 2025 - 15:24:47 Updated : Feb. 16, 2025 - 17:53:08
Link copied!
Lawmakers of the main opposition party suggested that armed troops who infiltrated the National Assembly building late in the night after martial law was declared on Dec. 3, 2024, managed to cut off its power for over five minutes, in the latest indication that President Yoon Suk Yeol attempted to employ military power to block the parliament from annulling the declaration.
Rep. Han Byung-do of the Democratic Party of Korea on Sunday revealed seven minutes of surveillance footage in which seven of the some 1,600 troops deployed to the National Assembly building appear to shut down the power supply in the basement.
The opposition party "confirmed that troops who forcibly entered the National Assembly partially cut off power inside the main building," Han told reporters.
The soldiers turned off two electric switchboards in the basement of the building at around 1:06 a.m. on Dec. 4, just five minutes after the National Assembly nullified Yoon's martial law imposition.
The basement of the building was without power for nearly six minutes, despite National Assembly officials' notice to troops that the parliament had passed a resolution to lift martial law.
According to the Democratic Party, the National Assembly building has circuit boards on every floor, and soldiers would have managed to cut off power to the main chamber on the second floor had they forcibly reached the board for the second floor.
Another Democratic Party lawmaker, Rep. Min Byoung-dug, said this counters Yoon's argument that he deployed the troops to ensure public safety following his martial law declaration and that he had no intention to paralyze the parliament.
Min added that the soldiers' actions were in line with the earlier revelation at Thursday's impeachment trial hearing that then-Army Special Warfare Command chief Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-geun ordered his subordinate, Col. Kim Hyun-tae, to consider cutting off the power at the National Assembly at around 12:50 a.m. on Dec. 4, 15 minutes before the blackout actually occurred.
"Behind the troops' motivation to cut off power at the National Assembly building was Yoon's order to stop the parliament from lifting martial law," Min said.
In his address to the nation on Dec. 12, two days before the impeachment motion against him passed, Yoon said, "If the objective was to paralyze the functions of the National Assembly ... measures to cut power and water to the National Assembly building would have been taken."
Yoon's legal team has denied the accusation.
In a statement Sunday, Yoon's representatives said Yoon had nothing to do with the soldiers' move to cut off power.
Yoon's lawyers added the phone conversation between Kwak and Kim was "not meant to paralyze the parliament's function," but were instead aimed at "accomplishing the mission to implement access control at the National Assembly."
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