The secretary general of the National Election Commission(NEC) said Thursday that he has serious doubts that it was constitutional for martial law troops to enter the election watchdog’s buildings Tuesday night.

Kim Yong-bin made the remarks before the parliamentary interior and safety committee during an emergency inquiry on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law decree.

Asked if he intends to raise an issue over the matter as the chief of a constitutional institution, Kim said the NEC is looking into it and has almost completed a review of possible responses. 

The NEC said that right after Yoon declared emergency martial law on Tuesday night, about 300 martial law troops were deployed to NEC buildings in Seoul’s Gwanak District and Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, as well as to the election training institute in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. 

Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who is believed to have advised Yoon to declare martial law, said in a notice to the media that the martial law troops were sent to the NEC facilities to determine whether it was necessary to launch an investigation into allegations of election fraud.