That reality is dawning on former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is staring down grave legal peril. Now, prosecutors have indicted him largely due to his spectacularly unpopular declaration of martial law last year. The indictment contains especially shocking charges of conspiracy to aid an enemy foreign state. These criminal charges stem from the same actions that led to his removal from office by the Constitutional Court this past April.
Yoon’s trial centers on allegations that he tried to impose martial law through ordering drone flights above North Korea. In their indictment prosecutors claim these acts were calculated to antagonize Pyongyang and manufacture an excuse with which to announce martial law. In response, government authorities opened an unprecedented special investigation into Yoon’s behavior. This action was largely due to worries about what he planned to do with the drone programs.
Evidence presented by prosecutors includes a memo from Yoon’s former counter-intelligence commander, which reportedly urged the military to “create an unstable situation or seize an arising opportunity.” This memo suggested targeting significant locations like Pyongyang or the coastal city of Wonsan to make North Korea “lose face,” potentially justifying a military response.
In response, prosecutors have decried Yoon’s behavior as an abuse of power. Instead, they say, his conduct serves to embolden North Korea, particularly at a time of such high tension between the two countries. Given that the Korean War ended only with an armistice agreement in 1953, South Korea and North Korea have technically never stopped warring. They reached an armistice, but they did not sign a peace treaty.
Prosecutor Park Ji-young underscored gravity of the charges against Yoon. He has committed the crimes of “aiding the enemy in violation of the 5th Article of War” and abuse of presidential power. The indictment does not make Yoon’s already complicated political legacy any simpler. Allegations of misconduct have followed him from even before his presidency, and after as well.
During the allegations, Yoon has repeatedly insisted that he never meant to carry out military rule. His defense was that his martial law declaration was designed to warn the public about alleged misconduct by opposition parties. He felt this was needed to safeguard democracy from what he called “antistate” actors.
Even though Yoon Suk Yeol is on trial now. To his right are fellow appointees to the growing scandal engulfing South Korea’s judicial system. This unprecedented trial promises to fundamentally alter the political landscape of the country. It would escalate current flashpoints with North Korea.
