At least five drone flights amid Myung, First Lady scandals

The special prosecution has reportedly obtained testimony from an active-duty military officer stating that "the Yoon Suk Yeol administration flew drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) to North Korea at least five times between October and November last year." As this coincided with a period when various allegations surrounding former First Lady Kim Keon-hee surfaced, the special prosecution is not ruling out the possibility that former President Yoon orchestrated a "North Korea threat" tactic to divert public attention.

According to the Dong-A Ilbo's investigation on Thursday, the special prosecution team investigating former President Yoon's alleged insurrection and treason (headed by Special Prosecutor Jo Eun-seok) recently summoned an active-duty officer as a witness. Mr. The officer testified that "sending drones to Pyongyang five times (within two months) is highly unusual" and that "General Kim Yong-dae, then head of the drone operations command, had said it was on the instruction of 'V' (referring to the former president)."

The special prosecution team is reportedly focusing on the fact that last October, when the military was suspected of concentrating drone operations over Pyongyang, was also the time various allegations against former First Lady Kim Keon-hee were being raised. On September 30 last year, prosecutors launched a forcible investigation by raiding the homes of Myung Tae-kyun and others involved in allegations of Kim's influence over political nominations. Around the same time, then People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon ordered a party-level investigation into former senior executive officer of the Presidential Office Kim Dae-nam over allegations that he said, "If you plan your attacks on Han Dong-hoon well, the First Lady will be pleased."

On October 2 last year, former President Yoon exercised his veto power against the so-called "Kim Keon-hee Special Prosecution Act," sparking confrontation with the Democratic Party of Korea, which soon proposed a new special prosecution bill. The special prosecution team believes Yoon may have attempted to deflect attention by focusing public discourse on North Korea. Reportedly, they also obtained testimony that "V and then-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun were very pleased when North Korea strongly responded to the drone issue," and that "Commander Kim felt pressured about whether another drone flight was necessary."

The special prosecution team plans to summon the detained former president Yoon for questioning on Friday. Yoon was re-detained the previous day, 124 days after being released, when the court canceled his earlier arrest warrant. Meanwhile, the separate special prosecution team investigating the death of Marine Corporal Chae and allegations of external interference in the investigation (led by Special Prosecutor Lee Myung-hyun) conducted raids on about ten locations on Thursday, including the residences and offices of former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup, former presidential secretary for public office discipline Lee Si-won, and former presidential secretary for national defense Lim Ki-hoon. It has been reported that both Lee and Lim are listed as suspects for abuse of power in the search warrants.


최미송기자 cms@donga.com