South Korea’s special prosecutor has indicted former President Yoon Suk Yeol on fresh charges, including aiding an enemy state, over his brief and controversial imposition of martial law last year.
The new indictment, announced Monday by Special Prosecutor Park Ji-young, intensifies the legal pressure on the ousted leader, who is already facing trial for insurrection and abuse of power following his removal from office in April.
Park said Yoon and several associates “conspired to create conditions that would allow the declaration of emergency martial law,” an act she said risked an inter-Korean confrontation and “harmed public military interests.”
The investigation found evidence suggesting Yoon’s administration ordered provocative drone flights over North Korea to heighten military tensions and justify declaring emergency rule, Park told reporters.
According to Park, a key piece of evidence was a memo written by Yoon’s former counter-intelligence commander in October last year. The document allegedly urged the military to “create an unstable situation or seize an arising opportunity” by targeting locations in North Korea “that must make them lose face so that a response is inevitable, such as Pyongyang or Wonsan.”
Prosecutors concluded these actions amounted to “benefitting the enemy in general,” one of the most serious offenses under South Korean law.
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Yoon, who was removed from office by the Constitutional Court earlier this year, has denied the allegations. He insists his martial law declaration was intended to expose corruption among opposition lawmakers and safeguard democracy from “antistate” elements. “I never intended to impose military rule,” Yoon previously said in court filings, according to South Korean media reports. “My goal was to protect the republic, not harm it.”
If convicted, the former president could face the death penalty, though such sentences are rarely carried out in South Korea.
Yoon’s downfall marks one of the most dramatic political collapses in South Korean history. Once elected on a platform of conservative reform and national security, his presidency unraveled within months amid mass protests and accusations of unconstitutional power grabs.
The former prosecutor-turned-president declared martial law in late 2024, deploying troops to key sites across Seoul before being swiftly challenged by lawmakers and removed from power. His trial for insurrection and other offenses began earlier this year.
The case also comes at a time of renewed tension on the Korean Peninsula. Seoul and Pyongyang remain technically at war, as the 1950–1953 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. The indictment accuses Yoon of taking steps that could have triggered armed conflict with North Korea.
The special counsel’s office said it will continue pursuing additional evidence and testimony from military and intelligence officials involved in the drone operations. Yoon’s defense team has requested a public hearing to challenge the charges, calling them “politically motivated.”