Cho Tae-yong, the director of the National Intelligence Service, said President Yoon Suk Yeol did not give the spy agency any orders about arresting politicians.

Cho denied claims raised by Hong Jang-won, the NIS deputy director, who said the president told him to arrest politicians.

“I would like to make it very clear that the president has not asked the NIS director to arrest politicians. The president has not given orders for an arrest before or after the martial law declaration,” Cho told reporters Friday.

“The NIS does not have investigative authorities, and as such it is not capable of carrying out arrest orders,” he said. “The NIS was not involved at all.”

Cho claimed that in his conversation with Hong earlier, the deputy director also denied having received such orders from the president.

“Even if the president were to communicate such things with the NIS, it would have been communicated to the director, not the deputy director,” Cho said.

Cho said he asked earlier on Friday that the president replace Hong as deputy director as he “violated the principle of maintaining political neutrality.”

According to Rep. Kim Byung-kee, who was briefed by Hong on Friday, however, the NIS deputy director said Yoon told him to “arrest them (politicians) all” in a phone call after the president declared martial law.

As proof, Hong showed Kim and other lawmakers a log of phone calls that took place between him and the president on the night of martial law.