South Korea ’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol began plotting to impose martial law barely a year after taking office, aiming to cling to power by provoking a military confrontation with North Korea , special investigators have found.
Announcing the results of a 180-day investigation on Monday, special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk said Yoon and his closest aides had devised a scheme to form a military junta, suspend democratic institutions, seize control of the legislature and judiciary and eliminate all political opposition .
“It has been confirmed that Yoon and his inner circle had been preparing to declare martial law since before October 2023,” Cho said during a nationally televised briefing. “To fabricate a pretext for imposing martial law, they attempted to provoke North Korea into a military response through abnormal military operations.”
Prosecutors have brought charges against 24 people, including Yoon, who is accused of obstruction of justice, aiding the enemy and perjury.
09:19
From president to political pariah: the rise and fall of South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol
From president to political pariah: the rise and fall of South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol
He had already been charged, before the special counsel’s appointment in June, with insurrection and abuse of power related to the same martial plot.