S Korean lawmakers question ministers over Yoon's botched martial law | East Asia Tonight (Dec 11)

Also on East Asia Tonight, South Korean lawmakers lay the groundwork for another impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol; Taiwan calls on China to stop "provocative acts" immediately as China reiterates will to defend sovereignty; and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expresses confidence in military capabilities with allies.

00:00 Headlines
01:32 Correspondent Lim Yun Suk on South Korea's political crisis
09:33 Grace Shin on pro-Yoon rallies, conservative agenda
14:31 China annual economic meeting preview
25:48 China-Taiwan tensions
28:50 A look into Nobel laureate Han Kang's achievements
46:15 South Korea's half-empty bars a sign of shift in drinking culture

[happymelon]

During Tuesday's late parliamentary defense committee meeting, military officers related to the martial law declaration testified with some shocking details revealed.

Commanders and military leaders have begun to testify during investigations into President Yoon's botched martial law order.
Lieutenant General Kwak Jong-keun, the suspended chief of the Army Special Warfare Command said he was instructed to drag lawmakers out of the National Assembly while the order was in place.
The comments were made during a parliamentary defense committee meeting that was held until late Tuesday night.

"The president called me directly on a secure phone. He told me "The quorum doesn't appear to have been met yet. Break down the doors fast, go in, and drag out people inside."

Though he received the order from Yoon, commanders on the ground resisted, and Kwak also figured their resistance was the correct action.
He also believed it was not right for troops to go in, because of the chance of future criminal action and due to concerns of injuries if they forced their way in.
Kwak said he ordered troops not to go any further before informing the ex-defense minister Kim Yong-hyun of his decision.

Kwak also revealed, that he had knowledge of some details of the martial law plan two days ahead of Yoon's declaration on December 3rd.
He said he received orders from then-Defense Minister Kim over a secure landline, to secure six locations.

"I was given the mission to secure six locations, the National Assembly, the National Election Commission, the Democratic Party headquarters, and Flower Research, an opinion polling company, on around December 1st."

After the order, Kwak says he only thought about what he would do if something actually happened, and did not tell the subordinate brigade commanders, as they could get into trouble.
He only told them on the day they were actually being deployed.
Meanwhile, there was also testimony from inside the Defense Counterintelligence Command.
Brigade General Kim Dae-woo, chief of the Defense Counterintelligence Command’s investigation unit, said Commander Yeo In-hyung ordered him to check if a key military bunker had space to detain people inside.
The B1 bunker, which is under the jurisdiction of the Army's Capital Defense Command, serves as the de facto wartime command center for Korea's military.

[서울레슬링김용범]

Please protect the President of the Republic of Korea

[oceanwave]

South Korea is falling deeper into chaos by the day. There will be for SK lost decades to come... 😨

[발트랑MUSIC]

Democracy will be protected by procedures and constitution.
Democracy, which has already taken root in the Republic of Korea,
may seem slow and incongruent with our fast-paced sentiments,
but it has the power to undo wrong choices.

[sendmrtube]

Just like the Korean movie - it is very hard to remove the Parasite in the Blue House !

[SoBiased]

Looks like the US Israel pokemons are in the spotlights again, make the handlers worried 😂😂😂

[AhmetTekin]

Democracy works!
Can Chinese 🇨🇳 people push to remove the dictatorship regime in Beijing peacefully?

[서울레슬링김용범]

Please protect the President of the Republic of Korea