South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol arrives for a hearing at the Korean Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, on Tuesday, January 21, 2025.
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South Korean prosecutors claimed on Monday that former President Yoon Seok-yeol tried to provoke neighboring North Korea into taking military action to justify imposing martial law, according to domestic media.
Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-sook told reporters that Yoon and his military commanders tried to induce North Korea to launch an armed invasion of South Korea, but they failed because North Korea did not resort to military force.
After a six-month investigation, Cho and his colleagues indicted 24 people, including Yoon and five cabinet members, on charges of sedition.
Earlier this month, on the one-year anniversary of Yoon’s short-term martial law, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said North Korea’s sending of garbage balloons to South Korea may have been caused by South Korean actions, but he did not elaborate at the time.
Mr Lee has also pledged “strict accountability” for the perpetrators behind the martial law attempt, with investigations and trials still ongoing.
Reuters reported in July that a special prosecutor was seeking to detain the head of a military drone unit over allegations that Yun directed a secret drone operation into North Korea to heighten tensions between the two countries.
Cho also said that Yoon masterminded a plan to suspend the powers of South Korea’s parliament in October 2023 and replace it with an emergency legislative body.
South Korean media Yonhap News reported that Mr. Yoon also tried to portray the results of the April 2024 general election, in which the ruling party lost, as if the election was rigged by anti-national forces.
In the 2024 election, the then-opposition Democratic Party, led by Lee, maintained a majority in the National Assembly.
After being removed from office in April, Yun was charged with sedition, which carries a maximum penalty of death.
South Korean prosecutors are also reportedly seeking a 15-year prison sentence for former Prime Minister Han Deok-soo. Other senior officials, including Yun’s defense minister and the former director of the National Intelligence Service, have also been arrested in connection with the attempt to introduce military rule.
On December 3 last year, Mr. Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a late-night speech, but lawmakers, including members of Mr. Yoon’s own party, scrambled to overturn his order. Yun rescinded the ordinance six hours after it was announced.
With the imposition of martial law, an impeachment motion against Yun was filed, and as a result, Yun was impeached on December 14th last year and removed from office on April 4th.
