South Korea charges former president Yoon with aiding enemy state
South Korean authorities are charging former president Yoon Suk Yeol with seeking to provoke military conflict with North Korea during his term in office. Yoon's aim was to legitimize the martial law he had declared that gave the presidency additional powers, prosecutors said.
Seoul (dpa) - Former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol, currently in jail after being impeached and removed from office, has been charged with additional offences, including supporting an enemy state, prosecutors said on Monday.
Yoon, 64, is accused of attempting to provoke a military conflict between South and North Korea by covertly sending drones into the North, in an effort to legitimize a state of martial law he declared late last year.
Prosecutors argued that the drone deployment in October 2024 led to the leak of military secrets to the North as the vehicles crashed near Pyongyang, according to Yonhap news agency.
In custody for months
The conservative politician has been in pre-trial detention for months and already faces charges over the declaration that include high treason, a crime punishable by life imprisonment.
Yoon's dramatic action on December 3 plunged the country into a deep political crisis. He justified the move by claiming that the left-wing opposition had been infiltrated by communist and anti-state forces, though he presented no evidence to support the allegations, and it was soon overturned.
Left-leaning Lee Jae Myung is now president. He won an early presidential election in June following Yoon’s removal from office in April.