A former senior official with the nation’s spy agency said Tuesday that he received an order from President Yoon Suk Yeol to arrest politicians on the night of December 3, when Yoon issued his martial law decree. 

Hong Jang-won, former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service(NIS), testified as a witness during the fifth hearing of Yoon’s impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court.

Asked whether Yoon had ordered him to work with the Defense Counterintelligence Command(DCC) to “round them all up” in a phone call on the night of martial law, Hong answered affirmatively. 

Hong said that since Yoon never specified who should be arrested, Hong called Yeo In-hyung, then head of the DCC, who verbally provided a list of politicians.

Yoon, however, denied ordering the arrest of politicians, saying he had a phone call with Hong to “encourage” him and that he ordered Hong to support the DCC in arresting “spies.”