South Korea’s ousted leader Yoon indicted for flying drones over North Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s ousted conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol He will face more charges after prosecutors alleged Monday he gave the order drone flights He made a deliberate attempt on North Korea to increase tensions and justify his plans to declare martial law.
Yoon initiated the most serious political crisis in South Korea’s recent history. martial law On December 3, 2024, he sent troops to besiege the National Assembly. He was later impeached and removed from office, and remains in prison on trial for charges including plotting an insurrection.
His successor and liberal rival, President Lee Jae Myunginitiated approved legislation independent investigations Yoon’s demonstration of martial law and other criminal allegations regarding himself, his wife, and his friends.
Yoon’s new assignment involves flying drones over North Korea
On Monday, yoon According to a special investigation team, he and two senior defense officials were charged with providing enemy benefits and abuse of power over alleged drone flights nearly two months before the declaration of martial law.
North Korea blames Seoul flying drones Propaganda leaflets will be distributed in the capital Pyongyang three times in October 2024. Yoon’s defense minister, Kim Yong Hyun, initially issued a vague denial, but the South Korean military later began saying it could not confirm whether the North’s claim was true. Any public confirmation of South Korea’s reconnaissance activities in North Korea is highly unusual.
Tensions rose sharply at the time, with North Korea threatening to respond with force. However, neither side took any major steps and tensions gradually eased.
When yoon He briefly touched on “threats from North Korean communist forces” when declaring martial law, but focused on his fights with the liberal-controlled parliament, which blocked his agenda, dismissed senior officials, and cut his government’s budget bill. Yoon called the National Assembly a “den of criminals” and “anti-state forces”.
On Monday, senior investigator Park Ji-young, who works for independent lawyer Cho Eun-suk, said at a briefing that his team was still charging Yoon, Kim and Yeo In-hyung, a former commander of the military’s counterintelligence agency, for allegedly flying drones.
Park said the trio “undermined the military interests of the Republic of Korea by increasing the danger of a South-North armed conflict to create the environment for the emergency declaration of martial law.”
Park described what he called notes found on Yeo’s cell phone, some of which suggested possible plots to trigger tensions with North Korea. The notes include phrases such as “creating an unstable situation”, “drones” and “targets like Pyongyang” that could force North Korea to respond because it has “lost face”.
Park said he would not make further statements about these notes due to concerns about the leak of military secrets.
Yoon is already facing more serious rioting charges
There was no immediate public response to the indictments from Yoon, Kim or Yeo. But in July, Yoon’s defense team said Yoon claimed he was not briefed on the drone flights.
State prosecutors filed criminal charges in January yoon allegedly directing a rebellion. This is a serious charge, conviction of which carries only the death penalty or life imprisonment. Kim and Yeo were also arrested and charged with allegedly playing key roles in Yoon’s imposition of martial law.
Hostilities between the Koreas have worsened Yoon took office In May 2022, with a tougher approach to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
South Korea has previously accused North Korea of occasionally flying its own drones over South Korea, but has refrained from taking tit-for-tat steps publicly. However, in December 2022, South Korea announced that He fired a warning shot, It scrambled fighter jets and flew surveillance drones over North Korea in response to what it called North Korea’s first drone flights across the border in five years. Observers say this reflects Yoon’s determination to act tough on North Korea’s provocations.
