Ankara: South Korea on Monday indicted former President Yoon Suk Yeol for 'benefiting the enemy' due to his alleged dispatch of drones to North Korea last year. The special counsel team accused Yoon of abuse of power, alleging that he ordered the drone dispatch in October to provoke retaliation from Pyongyang, which he could then use as a pretext for declaring martial law in December.

According to Anadolu Agency, the investigation led by special counsel Cho Eun-suk has been ongoing, focusing on Yoon's alleged attempts to impose martial law. Earlier, Yoon was charged with obstructing the special counsel's efforts to detain him in January and violating the rights of Cabinet members during the martial law decree.

The special counsel considered charging Yoon with inciting foreign aggression, but this would have required evidence of collusion with an enemy state. Instead, Yoon was charged with "benefiting the enemy in general" after investigators concluded that the drone operation in October 2024 resulted in a leak of military secrets when the drones crashed near Pyongyang.

Alongside Yoon, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command Yeo In-hyung were also indicted for aiding the enemy and abusing their power. Additionally, Kim Yong-dae, head of the Drone Operations Command, was indicted without detention for obstructing official duties and ordering the creation of false documents.

In a separate case, Yoon was indicted by prosecutors on charges of insurrection related to the martial law decree. He has been in jail since July.