The chief of the Army’s Special Warfare Command says former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun ordered him to physically remove lawmakers from the National Assembly on Tuesday night when the country was under martial law, but he refused to obey. 

Kwak Jong-geun told main opposition Democratic Party lawmakers about the incident on Friday when they visited the Special Warfare Command to question Kwak about what orders he received Tuesday night.

Kwak said he had not removed the lawmakers at the risk of being insubordinate, based on his own judgment that obstructing them would be illegal.

When asked what orders he gave during the deployment of his unit, he said he had instructed his troops not to carry live ammunition.

Kwak is one of the key figures who directly enforced martial law and mobilized martial law troops on Tuesday night.