South Korea: former president Yoon indicted for flying drones over North Korea

Seoul (South Korea), 10 Nov. (LaPresse/AP) – Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was removed from office after briefly imposing martial law in the country on 3 December 2024, will face further criminal charges. Today, prosecutors formally charged him with ordering drones to fly over North Korea in a deliberate attempt to fuel tensions and justify his plans to declare martial law. Yoon and two of his senior defence officials, Kim and Yeo In-hyung, former commander of the military counter-espionage agency, have been charged with aiding the enemy and abuse of power for their alleged drone flights, which took place about two months before martial law was declared. Park Ji-young, a senior investigator working for independent prosecutor Cho Eun-suk, said at a press conference that the trio ‘undermined the military interests of the Republic of Korea by increasing the danger of armed conflict between North and South with the aim of creating conditions for declaring martial law.’ Park released what she described as memos found on Yeo’s mobile phone, some of which suggest possible plots to trigger tensions with North Korea. The memos include expressions such as “create an unstable situation”, “drones” and “targets such as Pyongyang” that could force North Korea to respond due to “a loss of prestige”.