South Korea's ex-president Yoon indicted on new charges

South Korea's former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was indicted on additional charges Monday related to his short-lived bid to impose martial law last year.

After Yoon was impeached, his replacement, Lee Jae Myung, appointed a special counsel team to investigate.

They said Yoon allegedly ordered spy drones be sent into North Korea in October 2024, in a deliberate bid to stoke tensions and justify his plans to declare martial law.

Yoon and two of his top defense officials, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former military intelligence chief Yeo In-hyung, were charged with aiding the enemy and committing abuse of power.

Park Ji-young, a prosecutor's spokesperson, cited evidence found on a military official's phone that included some words allegedly pointing to potential provocations against the North, such as "drones" and "surgical strike," the Reuters news agency reported.  

There were no immediate comments from Yoon, Kim or Yeo. 

North Korea had accused Seoul of flying drones over Pyongyang to drop anti-North Korean leaflets in October last year.

At first, South Korean Defense Minister Kim vaguely denied the allegations.

However, the country's military later said that it couldn't confirm whether or not Pyongyang's claim was true.

The issue had led to soaring tensions between the rival neighbors.

The legal woes of South Korea's ousted ex-President

South Korea was pushed into political turmoil after Yoon sent armed troops to parliament in a failed attempt to stop lawmakers from voting against his martial law decision.

The conservative leader was detained in a raid in January, marking the first arrest of a sitting president in the country's history.

Yoon was removed from office by the Constitutional Court in April.

The former president has maintained he never intended to impose military rule but declared martial law to raise alarm on wrongdoings by opposition parties and to shield democracy from "anti-state" elements.

His defense team has also said that Yoon wasn't informed of the drone flights.

The former president — who is currently in jail — remains on trial for directing a rebellion and other offences linked to his declaration of martial law.

Edited by: Wesley Rahn, Roshni Majumdar