South Korea’s special counsel on Monday indicted former President Yoon Suk Yeol and two of his aides on charges of “benefiting the enemy,” accusing them of ordering unauthorized drone operations over Pyongyang in October 2024 to create grounds for declaring martial law.
The operation, prosecutors said, heightened inter-Korean tensions and undermined national security.
The investigation team, led by special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk, said that Yoon directed the drone missions to fabricate a pretext before declaring martial law on Dec. 3, with the assistance of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former Defense Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung.
Yoon, Kim and Yeo were charged with benefiting the enemy — a national security offense comparable to treason — as well as abuse of authority.
A memo recovered from Yeo’s phone read, “We must create or seize instability,” “The enemy must act first,” and “The enemy is in a very defensive position,” suggesting an intent to engineer a military standoff.
The memo also listed what Yeo described as “targets that (the North) would surely react to,” including the capital Pyongyang, two nuclear facilities and Kim Jong-un’s residence.
At the time, North Korea claimed that South Korean drones flew over Pyongyang on Oct. 3, 6 and 9, spreading propaganda materials before being shot down. In response, Pyongyang sent balloons carrying trash to the South and issued a harsh statement from Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong-un, on Oct. 10.
According to the team, the missions carried out under the Drone Operations Command compromised South Korea’s defense interests, as the drones crashed during the operation and exposed classified operational data.
The counsel also indicted Kim Yong-dae, head of the Drone Operations Command, on charges including abuse of power, falsifying official documents and destruction of military property.
Park Ji-young, assistant special counsel on the team, said that the indictments were “narrowly limited to those who knowingly sought to create conditions for declaring martial law,” excluding officers who believed they were following a routine mission.
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