section_path: Events/Plans for mass detention of political and public figures
section_name: Plans for mass detention of political and public figures
paragraph_text: Plans for mass detention of political and public figures
  
  At 22:28, Defense Minister Kim instructed DCC Commander Lieutenant General Yeo In-hyung to go ahead with the arrest of politicians on a target list.
  
  According to testimony by National Intelligence Service (NIS) Deputy Director Hong Jang-won to the National Assembly on 6 December, Yoon called him at 22:53 on 3 December and ordered him to help the DCC arrest his political opponents and that Yoon wanted to "use this chance to arrest them and wipe them out".
  
  Hong testified that DCC Commander Lieutenant General Yeo In-hyung later gave him a list of individuals targeted for arrest which Hong could not recall completely:
  
  Hong also mentioned that there were others on the list, including another NEC member whose name he could not recall and the head of a major labor union, either the Federation of Korean Trade Unions or the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.
  
  Han Dong-hoon, the leader of Yoon's own People Power Party, confirmed that he was on the list of targets and that Yoon had planned to jail arrested politicians in a detention center in Gwacheon, south of Seoul. Upon receiving Yeo's instructions, Hong said he thought the president had lost his mind. He refused to comply, citing the NIS's lack of resources and means to carry out such an order. Yeo reportedly outlined plans to arrest first and second-tier targets in phases, detain them at DCC facilities, and conduct investigations. It was later reported that a bunker designated as an operations center for potential North Korean attacks and a military police compound, both operated by the Capital Defense Command in Seoul's Gwanak District, were also considered as detention sites.
  
  Yoon then fired Hong. The report alleged Hong was given the orders because NIS Director Cho Tae-yong had previously refused to act on Yoon's arrest list.
  
  Troops were seen deployed in front of a building where Kim Ou-joon, the YouTuber and liberal journalist on the list of targets, created his videos. Kim, who went into hiding, said that soldiers were also deployed at his residence and posted footage showing about 20 armed soldiers standing outside his office in central Seoul.
  
  On 9 December, Police Commissioner Cho testified before the Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly that he had received a call from DCC Commander Yeo sometime between 22:30 and 22:40 on 3 December, asking him to track the locations of politicians and others to carry out their arrests. The list of targets was consistent with what NIS Deputy Director Hong had revealed the previous week, except PPP leader Han Dong-hoon was added to the list later. Commissioner Cho stated that he ignored the orders, on grounds that location tracking itself was illegal and that court-issued arrest warrants were required to carry out arrests.
  
  On 13 December, a lawyer representing Commissioner Cho said that Yoon had also ordered the arrest of Seoul Central District Court Judge Kim Dong-hyun, who had acquitted Lee Jae-myung of perjury charges in November 2024.
  
  On 14 February 2025, the Hankyoreh revealed that former Defense Intelligence Command leader Roh Sang-won's personal notebook contained specific action plans to arrest "500-or-so people", but were not carried out on the night of 3 December. Other figures and alleged "leftist" judges and celebrities were included, while the notebook highlighted how the individuals would be "collected" and sent to detention centers. In addition to the names above as instructed by DCC commander Yeo, the following individuals were listed in the notebook for arrests: