Ex-South Korea President Yoon tried to provoke Pyongyang into armed aggression, prosecutor says

The special prosecutor, Cho Eun-seok, told a briefing 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 the justification given by those in power for a coup is only a facade and the sole purpose is to monopolize and maintain power," Cho said.

Cho said his team has confirmed an elaborate scheme allegedly masterminded by Yoon and his defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, going 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 political opponents, including the then-leader of his conservative People Power Party, as anti-state forces and declared martial law without justification, Cho said.

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, which on conviction is punishable by life in prison or even the death penalty. 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 late night on December 3 last year and later impeached him for violating the duties of his office.

His wife, Kim Keon Hee, is under a separate special prosecutor probe for corruption stemming from activities during and before Yoon's presidency.

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 suspect Kim was involved in the conspiracy, Park Ji-young, a spokesperson for the special prosecutor's team, said.

The ousted president's spy chief was scheduled to travel to the U.S. the day after the decree to preemptively stifle Washington's objections, Park said, adding that December last year was likely chosen to take advantage of the distraction of the presidential transition after Donald Trump's election win.

Yoon has said it was within his powers as president to declare martial law and he did it to sound the alarm over the opposition parties' abuse of parliamentary control that was crippling the work of government. He said no harm was done to the country by his martial law decree.