SOUTH KOREA’S impeached president denied today that he ordered the military to drag lawmakers out of the National Assembly to prevent them from voting to reject his martial law decree last month.

The comments from President Yoon Suk Yeol came during his first appearance before the Constitutional Court that will determine his fate over his short lived declaration of martial law on December 3, which plunged the nation into chaos.

After the imposition of martial law, Mr Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly.

Enough lawmakers managed to get into the assembly building to vote unanimously to reject his decree, forcing President Yoon’s cabinet to lift the measure early the following morning.

Mr Yoon has since argued that his dispatch of troops was not meant to block the assembly but instead was a warning to the main liberal opposition Democratic Party.

In his announcement of martial law, President Yoon called the assembly “a den of criminals” and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces.”

Kwak Jong Keun, commander of a special forces unit, told an assembly hearing that Mr Yoon had called him directly and asked that his troops “quickly destroy the door and drag out the lawmakers who are inside.”

Mr Yoon denies the exchange took place.