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Special Counsel Indicts Ex-President Yoon for Aiding the Enemy Over Alleged North Korea Drone Operation

Prosecutors say the drone missions were intended to trigger a North Korean response that would justify his December 2024 martial law.

Overview

  • The special counsel brought new counts of aiding the enemy and abuse of power against Yoon Suk Yeol, while former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun and former counterintelligence chief Yeo In-hyung were indicted on the same charges.
  • Kim Yong-dae, head of the Drone Operations Command, was indicted without detention on obstruction of official duties and instigating false official documents.
  • Investigators cited handwritten notes recovered from Yeo’s phone that called for creating instability and referenced drones and targets such as Pyongyang as evidence of intent.
  • Prosecutors said a South Korean drone crashed near Pyongyang in October 2024 and leaked classified information, underpinning the “benefiting the enemy” charge.
  • The government proposed an internal task force to examine officials’ administrative culpability, and the special counsel renewed an arrest-warrant request for ex-justice minister Park Sung-jae.