South Korea's ousted leader Yoon indicted for flying drones over North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea’s ousted blimpish President Yoon Suk Yeol faces much transgression charges connected Monday arsenic prosecutors allege that helium flew drones implicit North Korea successful a deliberate bid to stoke tensions and warrant his plans to state martial law.

Yoon acceptable disconnected the astir superior governmental situation successful South Korea’s caller past erstwhile helium imposed martial instrumentality connected Dec. 3, 2024 and sent troops to situation the National Assembly. He was aboriginal impeached and removed from office, and is successful jailhouse lasting proceedings connected charges including masterminding a rebellion.

His successor and wide rival, President Lee Jae Myung, approved authorities that launched independent investigations into Yoon’s martial instrumentality stunt and different transgression allegations involving his woman and administration.

On Monday, Yoon and 2 of his apical defence officials were charged with benefitting the force and committing maltreatment of powerfulness implicit their alleged drone flights, which happened astir 2 months earlier the declaration of martial law, according to a peculiar probe team.

North Korea accused Seoul of flying drones implicit Pyongyang, the North's capital, to driblet propaganda leaflets 3 times successful October 2024. Yoon's defence minister, Kim Yong Hyun, initially made a vague denial, but South Korea's subject aboriginal switched to saying it couldn’t corroborate whether oregon not the North’s assertion was true. Any nationalist confirmation of South Korean reconnaissance activities wrong North Korea is highly unusual.

Tensions roseate sharply astatine the time, with North Korea threatening to respond with force, but neither broadside took immoderate large enactment and tensions gradually subsided.

When Yoon announced martial law, helium concisely cited “threats from North Korean communist forces,” but focused connected his fights with the liberal-controlled parliament that obstructed his agenda, impeached apical officials and slashed his government’s fund bill. Yoon called the National Assembly “a den of criminals” and “anti-state forces.”

On Monday, Park Ji-young, a elder researcher moving for autarkic counsel Cho Eun-suk, told a briefing that her squad inactive indicted Yoon, Kim and Yeo In-hyung, ex-commander of the military’s counterintelligence bureau implicit the alleged drone flying.

She said the trio “undermined the subject interests of the Republic of Korea by expanding the information of a South-North equipped struggle with the intent of mounting up an situation for declaring exigency martial law,” Park said.

There were nary contiguous nationalist responses from Yoon, Kim oregon Yeo. But successful July, Yoon’s defence squad said Yoon had maintained helium wasn’t informed of the drone flights.

In January, authorities prosecutors indicted Yoon for allegedly directing a rebellion. It's a sedate complaint whose condemnation lone carries the condemnation superior punishment oregon beingness imprisonment.

South Korea earlier accused North Korea of flying its ain drones implicit South Korea. In precocious 2022, South Korea fired informing shots, scrambled combatant jets and flew surveillance drones implicit North Korea successful effect to what it called North Korea's archetypal drone flights crossed the borderline successful 5 years.