South Korea’s ex-president Yoon tried to provoke Pyongyang into armed aggression: Prosecutor
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South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk Yeol speaking to his lawyers during the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SEOUL – South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk Yeol tried to provoke North Korea into mounting an armed aggression to justify the December 2024 martial law declaration and to eliminate political opponents, a special prosecutor said on Dec 15.
The special prosecutor, Mr Cho Eun-seok, told a briefing that his team had indicted 24 people, including Yoon and five Cabinet members, on insurrection charges following a six-month investigation.
“We know well from historic experience (that) the justification given by those in power for a coup is only a facade and the sole purpose is to monopolise and maintain power,” Mr Cho said.
He said his team had confirmed an elaborate scheme allegedly masterminded by Yoon and his defence minister Kim Yong-hyun, dating back to October 2023 to suspend the powers of Parliament and replace it with an emergency legislative body.
“To create justification for declaring martial law, they tried to lure North Korea into mounting an armed aggression but failed, as North Korea did not respond militarily,” he said.
The special prosecutor’s team has previously accused Yoon and his military commanders of ordering a covert drone operation into the North to inflame tensions between the neighbours.
Subsequently, Yoon conspired to brand those politically against him, including then leader of his conservative People Power Party, as anti-state forces and declared martial law without justification, Mr Cho said.
Mr Cho was among three special prosecutors appointed after President Lee Jae Myung was elected president in a snap election called after Yoon’s removal by the Constitutional Court in April.
Yoon is currently on trial for insurrection
His former ministers and other officials face various charges stemming from the failed martial law attempt.
Parliament, controlled by the liberal Democratic Party, voted to void Yoon’s decree within hours of his declaration
His wife, Kim Keon Hee, is under a separate special prosecutor probe
Yoon may have been compelled to act in part because of the unrelenting political pressure he was under, stemming from allegations of bribery against his wife, but there was no evidence to suggest she was involved in the conspiracy, said Mr Park Ji-young, a spokesman for the special prosecutor’s team.
The ousted president’s spy chief was scheduled to travel to the US the day after the decree to preemptively stifle Washington’s objections, Mr Park said, adding that December 2024 was likely chosen to take advantage of the distraction of the presidential transition after US President Donald Trump’s election win.
Yoon has said it was within his powers as president to declare martial law and that he did so to sound the alarm over the opposition parties’ abuse of parliamentary control, which was crippling the work of government.
He said no harm was done to the country by his martial law decree. REUTERS
