More than 1,500 military personnel, equipped with a range of firearms, along with over 100 military vehicles, were reportedly mobilized during President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration on Dec. 3.
According to a report released Thursday by Rep. Bak Seung-a of the Democratic Party of Korea, a total of 107 military vehicles were deployed by the Army Special Warfare Command and the Capital Defense Command on the night of the martial law declaration.
The report, which Bak received from the Defense Ministry, states that the vehicles included 26 large buses, each capable of carrying 45 personnel, 15 medium-sized buses with a capacity of 25 personnel, 25 military motorcycles and two small armed tactical vehicles. Additionally, 12 Black Hawk helicopters were mobilized to transport Army Special Warfare Command personnel to the National Assembly during the operation.
As of Thursday, approximately 1,580 military personnel are reported to have been mobilized for the martial law command on the night of the declaration, drawn from the Army Special Warfare Command, the Capital Defense Command, the Defense Counterintelligence Command and the Defense Intelligence Command.
Specifically, special operations forces were tasked with missions to blockade the National Assembly and the Democratic Party's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, and the National Election Commission headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.
Meanwhile, some DCC personnel were assigned to arrest prominent political figures, with plans to detain them in a military bunker near the capital area. DIC personnel, on the other hand, included specialists trained in operations targeting North Korea.
The equipment used by martial law forces during the operation included personal protective gear such as bulletproof helmets and vests, as well as night vision goggles. They were also equipped with a range of firearms -- including pistols, machine guns and sniper rifles -- along with other equipment such as expandable batons, Taser guns and drone jamming guns.
More than 9,000 rounds of live ammunition, in addition to blank rounds, were reportedly prepared that night. They were not distributed to individual personnel but were kept on-site in vehicles.
