South Korean prosecutors on Monday charged former President Yoon Suk Yeol with aiding the enemy, accusing him of harming his country’s military interests by ordering the delivery of drones to North Korea. These two neighboring countries are technically still at war since their conflict (1950-1953) ended in a ceasefire and not a peace treaty.
In October 2024, North Korea claimed to have evidence that South Korea had flown drones over its capital, Pyongyang, to distribute propaganda pamphlets. Seoul has not confirmed this. South Korean prosecutors opened a special investigation in 2025 to determine whether this was a deliberate attempt by Mr. Yoon to provoke North Korea, then use its reaction as casus belli.
According to the investigation, the former conservative leader and other figures “conspired to create conditions that allowed the imposition of martial law, thereby increasing the risk of inter-Korean armed confrontation and harming public military interests,” Park Ji-young, assistant special prosecutor, explained to the press.
Yoon Suk Yeol was accused of “siding with the enemy in general” as well as “abusing power,” he added. Mr. Yoon, who is currently in prison, was fired in April at the end of a series of disruptions sparked by the brief imposition of martial law on December 3, 2024. In his speech that day, he specifically cited North Korean threats to justify his surprise decision.
Hard line against Pyongyang
Ms. Park explains that irrefutable evidence was found in a memo from former counterintelligence chief Yoon Suk Yeol. The document recommends “creating unstable situations or taking advantage of emerging opportunities.” To do this, he suggested that the army target places “that would cause them (North Korea) to lose face, so that a response would be inevitable, such as Pyongyang” or the major coastal city of Wonsan.
During his tenure, Mr. Yoon took tough action against Pyongyang and pursued a clear rapprochement with the United States, another North Korean foe. On December 3, 2024, he deployed the army into Parliament to take control, but enough MPs managed to unite to vote to end martial law.
Mr. Yoon was arrested in January, dismissed in April, then replaced in June by his Democratic rival, Lee Jae Myung, who advocates peace with Pyongyang. Yoon Suk Yeol is still at the center of a trial on charges of rebellion, also related to his coup.
