On July 14th, local time, the Korean Special Investigation Team for State Unrest conducted comprehensive searches and seizures at various locations including the Military Drone Command Headquarters, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of National Security’s Anti-Spy Division. This action officially charges former President Yoon Suk Yeol with the crime of foreign enemy offense.
According to legal experts in South Korea, the search sites also included the National Security Office, the troops stationed on Bairang Island, and the residence of Kim Long-da, the commander of the Drone Command Headquarters.
Yoon Suk Yeol personally directed drones to be sent to Pyongyang.
The Special Investigation Team has obtained relevant recordings.
The investigation underway by the Special Investigation Team includes whether Yoon Suk Yeol directly instructed the Drone Command Headquarters to send drones to Pyongyang last October as an excuse for a state of emergency declaration, and whether the military was systematically involved in concealing this fact.
△Drone Remains Published by North Korea
It is understood that the Special Investigation Team has obtained recordings from Yoon Suk Yeol directing the Drone Command Headquarters to send drones to Pyongyang during October and November last year, overturning the defense ministry and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The team also uncovered that despite knowing the drones had been modified to carry leaflets and could have fallen, the command still sent these modified drones to Pyongyang to provoke retaliation from the North.
Moreover, the Special Investigation Team investigated the case where the Ministry of National Security’s Anti-Spy Division received advance information about sending drones to Pyongyang but provided misleading reports to the media, parliament, and military leaders, and systematically concealed the truth.
Yoon Suk Yeol Arrested Again After 124 Days
△On the evening of July 9th, local time, Yoon Suk Yeol finished his review and left the court.
In the early hours of July 10th, local time, after trial by the Central District Court of Seoul, South Korea, the Special Investigation Team for State Unrest approved the arrest application against Yoon Suk Yeol and issued an arrest warrant for the former president. Yoon Suk Yeol was immediately taken into custody. This marks the 124th day Yoon Suk Yeol has been detained since being released by the court on March 8th this year.
On June 6th, the Special Investigation Team for State Unrest, responsible for investigating the emergency state of unrest, requested the court to arrest Yoon Suk Yeol on suspicion of abuse of power and other charges. Following Yoon Suk Yeol’s arrest, the Special Investigation Team will conduct a maximum 20-day investigation.
Previously, the Special Investigation Team stated that Yoon Suk Yeol was suspected of obstructing special duties, violating the “Presidential Guard Law,” abuse of power, forgery of official documents, etc. Since the charges related to the state of unrest were confirmed to some extent during the prosecutorial and police investigation phases, it is expected that the investigation will focus on Yoon Suk Yeol’s foreign enemy offense suspicions, including creating reasons for declaring a state of emergency and sending drones into the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang.