- Yoon was accused of helping the enemy state provoke military tensions.
- South Korea has neither confirmed nor denied sending drones to North Korea.
- Former president removed from office by the Constitutional Court in April.
South Korea's special prosecutor on Monday charged former President Yoon Suk Yeol with additional charges of abuse of power and aiding an enemy state in connection with his brief imposition of martial law last year.
Yoon attempted to provoke a military conflict between South Korea and North Korea to declare martial law, a prosecutor's spokesman said in a briefing, citing evidence found on a military officer's mobile phone that included some words suggesting possible provocations against North Korea, such as “drones” and “surgical strike.”
Yoon was removed from office by the Constitutional Court in April and is on trial for insurrection stemming from his failed declaration of martial law. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.
Yoon has consistently said that he never intended to impose military rule, but instead declared martial law to sound the alarm about wrongdoing by opposition parties and protect democracy from “anti-state” elements.
According to the memo, Yoon, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former military intelligence chief Yeo In-hyung planned to induce a North Korean attack on the South, spokesman Park Ji-young said.
The trio conspired to create tensions in the country as justification for Yoon to declare martial law, he said.
Kim and Yeo were also charged with the same additional charges, the prosecutor said.
The special counsel team accused Yoon and his military commanders of ordering a covert drone operation in the North to inflame tensions between the neighbors and justify his decree of martial law.
In October last year, North Korea said the South had sent drones to spread anti-North Korean leaflets over Pyongyang and released photos of the wreckage of a crashed South Korean military drone.
Despite intense scrutiny and political pressure, the South Korean military declined at the time to comment on the suspected drone operation. A Defense Ministry official said Monday he had no comment on the matter.
Former Defense Minister Kim is also on trial on charges related to the declaration of martial law.
Yeo has said he deeply regrets not defying Yoon's order, according to media reports. The prosecutor's spokesman said Yeo was making excuses that made no sense about notes discovered on his mobile phone.
