South Korea Charges Ousted President Yoon over Alleged Pre-Martial Law Drone Flights

South Korea’s deposed president Yoon Suk Yeol faces new criminal charges alleging he ordered drones flown over North Korea in October 2024 to inflame tensions and pave the way for his December 3, 2024 declaration of martial law.

A special investigation team under independent counsel Cho Eun-suk said Monday it indicted Yoon and two former defense officials, ex-minister Kim Yong Hyun and Yeo In, hyung, the military counterintelligence chief, on counts including benefitting the enemy and abuse of power. Investigator Park Ji-young said the alleged flights «increased the danger of a South–North armed conflict» to create conditions for emergency rule.

North Korea had accused Seoul of dropping propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang three times that October; South Korea’s military later said it could not confirm the claims. Yoon’s lawyers have previously maintained he was not informed of any such missions. There were no immediate public responses from the accused on Monday.

Yoon triggered a political crisis when he imposed martial law and deployed troops around the National Assembly, citing North Korean threats and clashes with the liberal-controlled parliament. He was impeached, removed from office, and jailed; in January he was separately indicted for allegedly directing a rebellion, a charge that carries life imprisonment or the death penalty upon conviction.

President Lee Jae Myung’s administration has backed independent probes into Yoon’s martial law move and other alleged wrongdoing involving his government and family.

Kursiv Uzbekistan also reports that the BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness have resigned following criticism that a Panorama documentary misrepresented Donald Trump’s speech.