Prosecutor Says Yoon Sought North Korea Clash For Martial Law

South Korea's former president Yoon Suk Yeol allegedly sought to prompt a military confrontation with North Korea to create grounds for declaring martial law a year ago, but the plan collapsed when Pyongyang failed to respond, a special counsel said.

"They attempted to create a pretext for declaring martial law by carrying out abnormal military operations designed to provoke a North Korean armed response, but the effort failed because North Korea did not react militarily," Special Counsel Cho Euk-suk told reporters on Monday, wrapping up a six-month investigation into the botched martial law attempt.

The probe team believes Yoon and his officials sent drones into North Korea in October 2024 in an attempt to trigger a military response from the North. The North Korean military put its border units on full alert after reports of the drones flying above its capital, though at that time South Korea denied it had flown unmanned aircraft over the heavily fortified border.

The special prosecutor said Yoon, who was impeached over his martial law attempt, sought to monopolize power by seizing legislative and judicial authority through mobilizing the military.

Yoon, now jailed and facing an insurrection trial, has denied wrongdoing and defended his move as a desperate bid to counter what he claimed were North Korea sympathizers trying to paralyze his administration. Yoon's fall paved the way for the election of Lee Jae Myung as the new president in June. Lee's administration has sought to improve ties with North Korea in a departure from Yoon's hard-line approach.

In total, 24 people — including the former president, sitting lawmakers and past cabinet members — have been indicted over their alleged involvement in the former leader's political gamble, the special prosecutor said.

Source: Bloomberg Europe