To justify declaring martial law in December 2024, Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim Yong-hyun “tried to lure North Korea into mounting armed aggression but failed as North Korea did not respond militarily," Special Counsel Cho Eun-suk told a briefing.
According to Cho, his six-month probe has led to the indictment of 24 people — including Yoon himself and five former cabinet ministers — on insurrection-related charges.
"We know well from historic experience the justification given by those in power for a coup is only a facade and the sole purpose is to monopolize and maintain power," Cho said.
Prosecutors have previously accused Yoon and senior military commanders of ordering covert drone flights into North Korean airspace in a bid to spark tensions between the countries.
When no external crisis materialized, Yoon allegedly turned inward — branding political opponents, including the then leader of his own conservative People Power Party, as “anti-state forces.”
Martial law was declared thereafter, Cho said, despite the absence of any legal or security justification.
Cho is one of three special prosecutors appointed after President Lee Jae-myung won a snap election, triggered by Yoon’s removal from office by the Constitutional Court in April.
Since July, Yoon has been in detention and on trial for insurrection—a charge that, upon conviction, is punishable by life in prison or execution.