Web Desk; South Korean prosecutors on Monday indicted former President Yoon Suk Yeol on fresh charges of aiding the enemy and abusing his power, claiming he directed drone operations over North Korea to bolster his plan to declare martial law.
North Korea had last year accused the South of flying drones to drop propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang, though Seoul’s military has not confirmed the allegations.
Prosecutors opened a special investigation earlier this year to determine whether Yoon’s drone missions were an unlawful attempt to provoke the North and use its response as a pretext for military rule.
Prosecutor Park Ji-young said the special counsel filed charges against Yoon and others, accusing them of conspiring to create conditions that could justify emergency martial law, increasing the risk of armed conflict and jeopardizing national military interests.
Evidence included a memo by Yoon’s former counter-intelligence commander from October last year, urging actions to “create an unstable situation or seize an arising opportunity.”
The memo recommended targeting locations such as Pyongyang or the coastal city of Wonsan to force a response from North Korea.
Yoon triggered a political crisis in December last year by attempting to override civilian rule, sending armed soldiers to parliament to prevent lawmakers from rejecting his martial law proposal.
His attempt failed, and he was detained in a dawn raid in January, becoming South Korea’s first sitting president to be taken into custody.
Yoon was removed from office in April and replaced by Lee Jae Myung in the June general elections. He remains on trial for insurrection and other offenses linked to his declaration of martial law.
