The defense ministry says it told the Presidential Security Service that the Capital Defense Command’s 55th Security Group should not be mobilized to prevent the arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol, and that the security service replied that it understands.

According to the ministry on Thursday, vice defense minister Kim Seon-ho, who is serving as acting defense minister, conveyed the opinion last Friday to the president’s security detail, which oversees the Capital Defense Command’s 55th Security Group. 

Kim told the security team that it’s inappropriate for military personnel to be dispatched to stop Yoon’s arrest and instructed the head of the 55th Security Group that there should be no physical clashes with police. 

A ministry official said the security service apparently replied that it fully understands the acting defense minister’s stance. 

Last Friday, when investigators sought to execute the warrant to arrest Yoon, some 30 to 40 troops from military units, including the 55th Security Group, and around 50 employees of the president’s security detail formed a human wall to block investigators’ access to the residential compound. 

The defense ministry believes it is wrong for the 55th Security Group to be mobilized for this purpose, as the group’s main duty is to stand guard at the outer perimeter of the residential compound.