Did South Korea's Yoon Suk-yeol order drone missions into Pyongyang to justify martial law?
South Korea 's former president
Yoon Suk-yeol may have ordered drone missions over Pyongyang in a bid to trigger a North Korean military response is now at the centre of the investigation into his December
martial law debacle
Advertisement
Special prosecutors probing Yoon for insurrection and foreign aggression incitement believe the audio files could amount to a 'smoking gun' – offering evidence he sought to manufacture a crisis to legitimise extending his presidency, observers said.
'Yoon now faces allegations that, instead of fulfilling his duty to protect the people as commander-in-chief, he jeopardised their safety in an unlawful attempt to extend his rule,' Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies, told This Week in Asia.
The former leader declared martial law on December 3, citing unspecified threats from
North Korea and 'anti-state forces' threatening democracy, as well as a legislative deadlock caused by opposition control of the National Assembly.
'If the North had responded militarily, it could have sparked armed conflict along the border – and potentially escalated into an all-out war,' Yang said.
Former president Yoon Suk-yeol arrives for questioning over charges related to the December 3 martial law imposition at the special prosecutor's office in Seoul on June 28. Photo: EPA
According to reports from both the conservative Dong-A Ilbo and the progressive Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper, special prosecutors investigating Yoon on insurrection charges have secured a recording of military officers quoting Drone Operations Commander Kim Yong-dae as saying that the drone missions were ordered by 'V' – believed to be shorthand for the former president.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
CY Leung renews call for Hong Kong landlords to cut rents amid rising vacancies
Hong Kong's former leader Leung Chun-ying has challenged landlords to 'adjust their mentality' over rental yields as he renewed his call for price cuts to stem a 40-year high vacancy rate for commercial properties from rising further amid a slackening economy. Leung, now a top political adviser to the country, also warned that landlords would be harmed in the end if they refused to budge on lowering rents. 'It is sheer self-delusion if landlords think they can get the rent level they want by leaving the premises vacant and waiting [instead of cutting the rents],' Leung said on Saturday. Leung, now a vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, weighed in on the debate over Hong Kong's commercial rents last week after the latest government report showed that, by the end of 2024, the total vacant floor area of private commercial buildings reached 1.4 million square metres. The empty space represented a vacancy rate of 11.8 per cent – a record high over the past 40 years. The slackening economy has also resulted in a string of high-profile shutdowns of established restaurants in recent months, with some citing high rents as a reason. 'The overall economic environment is like that now. Perhaps it is partly because people are going north to spend, or people are getting used to buying takeaway, or shopping online,' Leung said.
South China Morning Post
6 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
South Korean ‘poverty porn' YouTuber arrested in the Philippines over child abuse claims
South Korean man in his fifties has been arrested in the Philippines on charges of child abuse, trafficking and sexual exploitation involving a 14-year-old girl who later gave birth to his child. Advertisement The suspect is believed to have used a YouTube channel under the pretence of helping impoverished Filipino children to solicit donations – a revelation that has outraged both the South Korean and international public. According to Philippine media outlet GMA Network and the Philippine National Police Cybercrime Division, the suspect, identified only as A, was arrested on June 11 in Cagayan de Oro City. Authorities rescued the underage girl along with her two-month-old baby, who was allegedly fathered by A. A South Korean man has been arrested for various child exploitation crimes. Photo: Philippines Anti-Cybercrime Group Investigators said the arrest stemmed from online surveillance conducted by the National Coordination Centre against Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children, which discovered a suspicious YouTube video suggesting potential crimes against minors. Authorities identified the South Korean man as the account holder, and determined he had been living with the 14-year-old girl. They later confirmed that she had given birth to his child, prompting charges under multiple laws including the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse Act, the Anti-Rape Law, and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act. Although police have not released the suspect's name, he is widely believed to be a YouTuber who operated a so-called study room for children in poor neighbourhoods and appealed for donations from South Korean viewers. Screengrab from a YouTube site of a so-called study room for children in poor neighbourhoods, believed to be operated by the suspect. Photo: YouTube/Crime Net Online watchdog Crime Net, which documents criminal activity by South Korean nationals abroad, alleged in two recent videos that A was behind the YouTube account in question. The term 'poverty porn' has been used to describe his content – media that exploits the suffering of the poor to generate sympathy and monetary donations.
South China Morning Post
8 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Taiwan caught in WWII revisionist dilemma as Lai reshapes wartime legacy
As Taiwan prepares to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, controversy is hanging over the administration of Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te as it faces criticism over its handling of the Republic of China's (ROC) wartime legacy. The Lai government has used commemorations under the theme 'Resist Aggression, Protect the Homeland' to warn retired ranking officers – many affiliated with the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) – not to attend Beijing's September 3 military parade , which will celebrate the same occasion. The move has reignited long-standing tensions over Taiwan's identity, the ownership of ROC history, and the reluctance of Lai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to fully embrace the ROC's historical roots in mainland China. Critics accused the administration of honouring the ROC's wartime triumph without acknowledging its mainland roots before 1949. Founded in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), the ROC fought Japan as a key Allied power under Chiang Kai-shek. After World War II, a civil war erupted between Chiang's KMT forces and communist troops, ending with the KMT's retreat to Taiwan in 1949. The KMT set up an interim government that continued to use the ROC as its official title. However, Lai has maintained the DPP's emphasis on Taiwan's separate identity while downplaying the ROC's legacy on the mainland.
