South Korea's Ministry of Defense vows to disregard the renewed order for martial law.
As reported by Ukrinform, this was stated during an emergency briefing by Deputy Minister of Defense Kim Sung-ho, who is currently acting as the head of the department, as reported by Yonhap.
“The rumors circulating today (Friday) morning about signs of a possible re-declaration of martial law in the country are not true. Even if an order for the introduction of martial law is given, the Ministry of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff will never accept it,” Kim stated.
He apologized for the situation regarding the declaration of martial law and promised to closely cooperate with the prosecutor's office in investigating the circumstances of those events.
The acting head of the defense department assured that the South Korean military maintains a high level of combat readiness and continues to protect the safety and daily lives of the people.
Earlier, the commander of the South Korean special forces, General Kwak Jeong-hin, also stated that he would ignore the illegal order regarding martial law.
During hearings in the country's parliament, he reported that after the declaration of martial law, he received an order from Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun to forcibly remove lawmakers from the National Assembly building, but he refused to comply.
“The then Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun ordered me to pull people out of the National Assembly building onto the street. This task was not carried out because, in my opinion, pulling lawmakers out is clearly an illegal act,” the special forces commander said.
He added that he also prohibited issuing combat ammunition to personnel to prevent unnecessary escalation of the situation.
As reported by Ukrinform, the leader of the ruling presidential party in South Korea, Han Dong-hun, stated that President Yoon Suk-yeol should be immediately suspended from his duties.