Martial law probe expands to include alleged North Korea provocations

The second special counsel team announced on Monday that it plans to formally charge former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former Defense Intelligence Command (DIC) commanders Noh Sang-won and Moon Sang-ho with aiding the enemy, following allegations that they ordered North Korea-related special operations training ahead of then-President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration.

The special counsel, led by Kwon Chang-young, had investigated claims that the DIC mobilized operatives from the military's Headquarters of Intelligence Detachment (HID) for infiltration-related training beginning in March 2024, nine months before Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3.

The investigators found that the training involved submarines and paragliders and was based on scenarios in which HID agents infiltrated North Korea and detonated explosives.

Moon, who was commander of the DIC at the time, personally oversaw the training, according to investigators. They also allege that about a month before the martial law declaration, Moon reprimanded officers responsible for the paragliding portion of the training after drills kept failing due to the weather.

The special counsel team suspects that the exercises were part of an effort to heighten tensions between the two Koreas, creating a political diversion for Yoon as he faced backlash over the government budget and an alleged bribery case involving then-first lady Kim Keon Hee — an example of a "North Wind" operation, a term used in South Korea to describe attempts to exploit tensions with North Korea for domestic political purposes.

Investigators also believe the training was meant to establish a pretext for the martial law declaration.

As part of the probe, the special counsel team questioned Kim Tae-hyo, the former principal deputy national security adviser, as a witness on Thursday. Kim Tae-hyo has been accused of visiting an HID unit in 2023 to review its training activities.

Investigators secured relevant documents from the DIC through voluntary submissions in April and later questioned Yoon as a witness in the same probe on June 13.

Investigators are also examining whether a series of unusual daytime flights by armed Apache helicopters along the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea before the martial law declaration were intended to provoke a response from North Korea.

Yoon and Kim Yong-hyun have already been convicted on separate charges of aiding the enemy by ordering a drone operation in Pyongyang.

On June 12, a court sentenced Yoon and Kim Yong-hyun to 30 years in prison each in the first trial.

The court found that Yoon, Kim Yong-hyun and former head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command Yeo In-hyung ordered drone incursions into Pyongyang around October 2024 to provoke North Korea before the martial law declaration.

BY KIM SEONG-JIN [[email protected]]