Special Prosecutor Team for Insurrection and Treason Files Additional Charges Against Yoon Over 'Pyongyang Drone Operation'... No Evidence of Collusion with DPRK Found

[Financial News] The Special Prosecutor Team for Insurrection and Treason, led by Cho Eun-seok, has indicted former President Yoon Suk Yeol and former military officials on charges of treason.
On the 10th, Deputy Special Prosecutor Park Ji-young stated, "Regarding the December 3 Martial Law, we have indicted former President Yoon Suk Yeol, former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, and former Defense Counterintelligence Command (DCC) Commander Yeo In-hyung on charges of general treason and abuse of authority. The charges relate to a plot to provoke an attack by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) by infiltrating drones into Pyongyang and then declaring Martial Law as a means of attempting a military coup." Additionally, former Minister Kim faces further charges of obstruction of official duties by fraud, fabrication and use of false official documents, and issuing and reporting false orders. Former Drone Operations Command Commander Kim Yong-dae has been charged with incitement to destroy military property, leaking military secrets, issuing and reporting false orders, and obstruction of official duties by fraud.
Yoon Suk Yeol, Kim Yong-hyun, and Yeo In-hyung are accused of conspiring to create conditions for declaring Martial Law by increasing the risk of armed conflict between the two Koreas, thereby undermining military interests.
To substantiate the treason charges, the Special Prosecutor Team conducted searches, summoned related individuals, and performed forensic analysis. During the investigation, a security memo was found on former Commander Yeo In-hyung’s mobile phone. This memo, drafted from October last year, just two months before Martial Law, included statements such as 'We must seize a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for short-term results in an unstable situation. Targeting that inevitably demands a response due to loss of face,' and 'Consideration of preemptive military talks before and after the clash.'
From November, the memo included notes such as 'Joint military-police operations are essential from the outset; what about the police situation?' On the 9th, names listed for arrest included 'Lee Jae-myung, Cho Kuk, Han Dong-hoon, Chung Cheong-rae, Kim Min-seok, Woo Won-shik, Lee Hak-young, Park Chan-dae, Yang Kyung-soo, Kim Ou-joon,' among others. The Special Prosecutor Team interpreted these memos as evidence that, after creating a Martial Law situation through military provocation, there were plans to arrest Lee Jae-myung, then leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), and others. The team noted that Yeo In-hyung had provided distorted explanations regarding these memos.
The Special Prosecutor Team also decrypted the so-called 'Sangwon Noh, former Defense Intelligence Command Commander, notebook,' discovering that preparations for Martial Law began not last year, but as early as October 2023, coinciding with the appointment of new military generals.
Deputy Special Prosecutor Park Ji-young remarked, "As a citizen, I hoped these suspicions would remain just suspicions. However, the process of confirming the unthinkable as fact through evidence was devastating for everyone involved in the investigation. The actions of the President, who is the commander-in-chief, and the Minister of National Defense in attempting to exploit inter-Korean military tensions to create conditions for Martial Law pose an unacceptable risk to public safety and cannot be tolerated."
However, all Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) officials, including former Operations Chief Lee Seung-oh, were excluded from the indictment. The Special Prosecutor Team explained that the selection criteria for treason charges were based on whether the accused was aware of the purpose to create conditions for Martial Law, and thus JCS officials, who were subject to 'passing controversy,' were not indicted. Commander Kim was also excluded from general treason charges as he was unaware of the facts related to Martial Law preparations. Additionally, considering the nature of national security and military operations, all junior officers were excluded.
The team also explained why general treason, rather than treason by collusion, was applied. Under current law, collusion with an enemy state is a basic requirement for the latter charge. The Special Prosecutor Team reported that no evidence of collusion with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was found.
Having concluded the investigation into treason charges, the Special Prosecutor Team plans to continue probing remaining allegations, including 'obstruction of parliamentary voting' and 'destruction of related documents after Martial Law.'
theknight@fnnews.com Jung Kyung-soo Reporter