Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-geun, former head of the Army Special Warfare Command, listens to lawmakers during a session on President Yoon Suk Yeol's alleged insurrection at the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday. Newsis

Former military commanders and a former senior official at the spy agency testified against President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday, claiming they had been ordered to paralyze the National Assembly when martial law was imposed on Dec. 3.

During a session held at the Assembly on Yoon's alleged insurrection attempt, Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-geun, former head of the Army Special Warfare Command, said the president directly told him to drag lawmakers out of the Assembly building that day — a testimony that goes against the claims of Yoon's defense attorneys.

When the order was allegedly made, lawmakers were gathering at the Assembly to vote on nullifying martial law.

"The president told me to ‘drag out the people inside' over a secret phone call," Kwak said.

His remarks contrast with former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun's denial of the accusation. During a Jan. 23 hearing for Yoon's impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court, Kim claimed that he instructed military commanders to get "yowon" (commandos), not "euiwon" (lawmakers), out of the building while insisting that troops were deployed there only to "maintain order."

Kwak dismissed the claims as false.

"At the time of the phone call, there were no agents inside the building," Kwak said, adding that members of the 707th Special Mission Group were sent in afterward.

He also said he had not been instructed to "maintain order" or "protect citizens," nor told the troops were deployed to the Assembly just "as a warning," unlike the claims made by Yoon's side.

President Yoon Suk Yeol closes his eyes during a hearing for his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, Tuesday. Newsis

After the Assembly session, two other former military commanders — Lt. Gen. Yeo In-hyung, former head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, and Lt. Gen. Lee Jin-woo, former head of the Capital Defense Command — and Hong Jang-won, former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, spoke as witnesses at a hearing in the Constitutional Court.

Hong said the president also told him to remove all lawmakers from the building.

Asked whether Yoon had ordered him to "clean them all up," Hong said he did. When asked how he interpreted that order, he said, "I took it literally."

Hong said he called Yeo, who then asked for his support in locating people they needed to arrest. While listening to the names, which included key politicians such as Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik and main opposition Democratic Party of Korea leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung, Hong said he thought "something was wrong."

Hong Jang-won, former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, speaks during a hearing for President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

Yeo, who was indicted on charges of playing a key role in Yoon's martial law fiasco, refused to answer questions over whether the former defense minister had ordered him to detain the politicians and major government figures.

However, he admitted that he asked Cho Ji-ho, commissioner general of the National Police Agency, to find the locations of certain people on that day.

Lee also declined to disclose any details about his phone conversation with the president. However, he admitted that he received a call from Yoon during the martial law period.

Earlier during the prosecution's questioning, Lee reportedly told investigators that Yoon had directed him to remove lawmakers from the Assembly by "firing guns and breaking down doors" if necessary.

Yoon denied these allegations.

Yoon claimed that dragging lawmakers from the Assembly building was not possible and he knew it, as there were hundreds of civilians in there and troops had already been instructed to withdraw by then following a vote to lift martial law.

But he admitted that he told the former defense minister to send troops to the National Election Commission buildings to look into suspicions of election fraud — a conspiracy theory promoted by far-right YouTubers.

"If you look at this case, people say they were ordered to do something. But the reality was that nothing happened … It feels like chasing the moon's shadow on a lake," Yoon said.

Yoon's defense team has insisted that the president did not have any intention to disrupt the operation of the Assembly when he declared martial law and the decree banning all political activities was meant only to serve as a "warning" to opposition lawmakers.

Outside the court, about 200 supporters of Yoon held a rally in spite of the freezing weather. Some held signs with messages such as "Free the President" and "Impeachment Invalid."

The court is expected to deliver its verdict within four months on whether to uphold or dismiss the Assembly's impeachment motion of Yoon.