Yoon's 'Pyongyang Drone Allegation' Trial to Begin on the 1st of Next Month

First Preparatory Hearing Scheduled for December 1

The trial for former President Yoon Suk-yeol, indicted by Special Prosecutor Cho Eunseok’s team on charges of general treason in connection with the December 3 Martial Law, will begin next month.

According to the legal community on November 13, the 36th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Jeongyeop) has scheduled the first preparatory hearing for December 1 for the general treason and abuse of authority case involving former President Yoon, former Defense Minister Kim Yonghyun, and former Defense Counterintelligence Commander Yeo Inhyeong.

Yonhap News Agency

The preparatory hearing is a procedure held before the formal trial to hear the opinions of the prosecution and the defendants and to establish plans for presenting evidence. The defendants are not required to attend.

The preparatory hearing for former Drone Operations Commander Kim Yongdae, who was also indicted on charges including obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means and instigating the creation of false official documents, will be held on the same day.

Former President Yoon and others are accused of deploying a Pyongyang drone to the Drone Operations Command around October last year with the intent to provoke North Korea militarily and create grounds for declaring martial law.

Initially, the application of the criminal code’s charge of collusion with the enemy was considered. However, after the investigation, the special prosecutor’s team applied the charge of general treason instead of collusion with the enemy, which requires ‘collusion’ with a hostile state. General treason is established if one harms South Korea’s military interests or provides military benefit to an enemy state, regardless of collusion.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.