Ex-South Korean President Accused of Trying to Trigger North Korean Attack

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol allegedly attempted to provoke North Korea into launching an armed attack to justify declaring martial law in December 2024, according to a special prosecutor cited by Reuters. Prosecutors say the effort was part of a broader plan to suspend parliament and remove political opponents.

Special prosecutor Cho Eun-seok said his team indicted 24 people, including Yoon Suk Yeol and five cabinet members, on insurrection charges following a six-month investigation. At a briefing, Cho Eun-seok said investigators confirmed an alleged scheme led by Yoon Suk Yeol and then–defence minister Kim Yong-hyun that began in October 2023 and sought to suspend the powers of parliament and replace it with an emergency legislative body.

According to Cho Eun-seok, the group tried to create justification for declaring martial law by luring North Korea into mounting an armed aggression, but the attempt failed because Pyongyang did not respond militarily. Prosecutors have previously accused Yoon Suk Yeol and senior military commanders of ordering a covert drone operation into the North to inflame tensions between the two neighbours.

Cho Eun-seok said Yoon Suk Yeol later worked to brand political opponents, including the then leader of the conservative People Power Party, as anti-state forces before declaring martial law without justification. He said historical experience shows that justifications offered by those in power for coups often serve as a façade to monopolize and maintain authority.

The special prosecutor was appointed after President Lee Jae Myung was elected in a snap election called following Yoon Suk Yeol’s removal by the Constitutional Court in April. Yoon Suk Yeol is currently on trial for insurrection, a charge punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty. His former ministers and other officials face additional charges related to the failed martial law attempt.

Parliament, controlled by the liberal Democratic Party, voted within hours to nullify Yoon Suk Yeol’s decree issued late on December 3 last year and later impeached him for violating his official duties. His wife, Kim Keon Hee, is under a separate special prosecutor investigation for corruption linked to activities during and before his presidency.

Park Ji-young, a spokesperson for the special prosecutor’s team, said Yoon Suk Yeol may have been partly compelled to act because of sustained political pressure tied to bribery allegations involving Kim Keon Hee, but investigators found no evidence she was involved in the alleged conspiracy. Park Ji-young also said the former president’s spy chief had planned to travel to the United States the day after the decree to preemptively stifle objections from Washington, and that December last year was likely chosen to take advantage of distractions caused by the presidential transition following Donald Trump’s election victory.

Yoon Suk Yeol has said declaring martial law was within his authority as president and argued it was intended to warn against what he described as opposition parties’ abuse of parliamentary control that was crippling the work of government. He has said no harm was done to the country by the decree.