“About how much fuel have we consumed?” “We’ll probably go to the National Assembly one more time.”

On the day of the illegal December 3 martial law, the Special Operations Aviation Group that sent Army Special Warfare Command troops to the National Assembly repeatedly checked the remaining helicopter fuel. Helicopters capable of making a round trip immediately returned to the Special Warfare Command in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, and took on dozens more personnel. This is interpreted as key evidence rebutting former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s claim that only minimal forces were mobilized for ‘warning-style martial law’.

On the 19th, the Kyunghyang Shinmun obtained the full transcript of radio communications from the Special Operations Aviation Group helicopters that shuttled between the National Assembly and a Special Warfare battalion on the day martial law was declared, through the office of Democratic Party lawmaker Choo Mi-ae. Based on this, we reconstructed and organized the scene of pilots floundering aboard helicopters amid the abrupt declaration and the indications that additional martial law troops were to be inserted into the National Assembly.

At 10:55 p.m. on December 3, helicopters of the Special Operations Aviation Group in the Chungbuk area began preparing for immediate takeoff roughly 20 minutes after the declaration of martial law. Special Warfare personnel to be dropped at the National Assembly boarded one after another. Around the same time, the National Assembly guard force began restricting access to the complex.

“Affirmative. emergency mission (Yes. It is an emergency mission)” The martial law helicopters emphasized to the Air Force air-defense control center (MCRC) that they were on an emergency mission and requested clearance to enter Seoul’s airspace. However, they waited in the nearby sky for about 12 minutes before receiving clearance to enter Seoul’s airspace.

At about 10:59 p.m., the Capital Defense Command ordered the martial law helicopters to hold, and only around 11:11 p.m.12 minutes laterwere they cleared to enter Seoul. Helicopters carrying martial law troops were unable to enter Seoul’s airspace immediately and had to circle before proceeding in.

After entering Seoul, the helicopters transported Special Warfare troops to the National Assembly and then took off again around 12:16 a.m. on December 4. They headed to the Special Warfare Command in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. There, additional Special Warfare personnel to be deployed to the National Assembly boarded the helicopters.

Even at the Special Warfare Command site, the boarding process was not smooth. One pilot asked, “Are they still not boarding?” and a crew member replied, “They haven’t even approached yet.” As the boarding was delayed again, the battalion commander also said, “Could you go to ground control and check why the personnel aren’t boarding?” The helicopter took off at 12:54 a.m., 11 minutes after landing at the command, and headed back to the National Assembly with the troops aboard.

At 1:00 a.m. on the 4th, six minutes after the Special Warfare troops departed the Icheon base, the National Assembly introduced a ‘Resolution Demanding the Termination of Emergency Martial Law’. About two minutes later, it passed the motion to lift martial law with unanimous approval from all 190 lawmakers present.

The helicopter carrying the additional deployment touched down at the National Assembly at 1:14 a.m., but took off again after just over three minutes. “Ah, the reporters are taking picturesoh dear.” “Reporters are approaching, be careful.” Snow was falling at the time, worsening helicopter landing conditions, and even after arriving at the National Assembly, crowds including members of the press swarmed the area, making even takeoff difficult.

Because the declaration of martial law was so abrupt, pilots appear to have been tasked with transporting martial law troops without sufficient preparation for helicopter takeoffs and landings. An emergency standby aircraft was deployed at the scene. One crew member also reported during boarding that they had failed to bring the flight log. Pilots had to check fuel consumption repeatedly en route to the National Assembly.

In his final statement at the sentencing hearing on the charge of being a ringleader of insurrection, former President Yoon Suk-yeol argued that there was no plan to mobilize the police and that the military was to be used only minimally. However, indications such as the additional insertion of martial law troops confirmed in the helicopter communications contradict Yoon’s claim of ‘warning-style martial law’. The first-instance verdict in Yoon’s trial on the ringleader-of-insurrection charge will be handed down at 3 p.m. today at the Seoul Central District Court.