On the 8th, the Ministry of National Defense reaffirmed its policy that the 55th Security Group of the Army Capital Defense Command, which is in charge of security outside the presidential residence, should not be deployed to block the execution of an arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol.
In a phone call with the Dong-A Ilbo on this day, a military official said, “Even if the Secret Service orders the 55th Guards Division to be deployed to the arrest warrant ‘interdiction team,’ I believe the 55th Guards Commander (Army Colonel) will not comply.” He went on to say, “The 55th Security Group’s primary mission is to guard the outskirts of the official residence,” and added, “Even if instructions (from the Security Service) that deviate from this are not followed, they cannot be viewed as ‘resisting.’”
The 55th Security Group is part of the Investigation Agency, but is assigned to the Secret Service. Although the National Security Agency has overall command authority, including operational control, the military authorities believe that ordering them to stop the execution of arrest warrants is ‘exceeding their authority’. This official emphasized, “The safety of the 55th Guards Corps soldiers must never be threatened by physical conflict while the Secret Service is preventing the execution of an arrest warrant.”
Previously, the police revealed that in the process of preventing the execution of an arrest warrant for President Yoon on the 3rd, the National Security Agency mobilized soldiers from the 55th Security Group and the 33rd Military Police Guard to create a ‘human shield’ and block the entry of the National Security Agency and the police.
At the time, Acting Minister of National Defense Kim Seon-ho said, “It is not right to deploy military forces to block the execution of arrest warrants by the Airborne Investigation Office,” and twice requested the Ministry of National Security to use the 55th Security Guards’ troops in accordance with their mission. In addition, instructions were also issued to the 55th Security Group commander that there should be no physical conflict with the police.
Another military official said, “The instructions given by Acting Minister Kim to the head of the 55th Security Group on the 3rd mean not to follow the Secret Service’s excessive instructions,” and added, “This policy remains unchanged.”
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