A TV screen shows a file image of South Korea's ousted President Yoon Suk-yeol during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, on December15, 2025. Photo: VCG

 
South Korean former president Yoon Suk-yeol had prepared to declare martial law bid for over a year with a clear purpose to "eliminate the opposition and monopolize power," the special counsel investigating Yoon's alleged insurrection and treason concluded Monday, according to The Korea Herald.

Special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team shared the conclusion as it announced the results of the 180-day investigation into Yoon's martial law bid after indicting 24 people, including the ousted former president, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The team said Yoon staged an insurrection through his martial law declaration in order to remove his political opponents and monopolize and maintain power. The special prosecutors revealed that they had confirmed the arrest list of politicians, documents related to the power outage, and evidence of the preparation of torture tools such as awls and hammers in order to enforce martial law.

The team also said it concluded that Yoon sought to build a case for his martial law imposition by sending drones into North Korea and inciting its retaliation, Yonhap News Agency reported. The plan failed, however, as the North did not retaliate militarily, the report said.

In Yoon's martial law decree, he banned all political activities, including the assembly of lawmakers, without the backing of law or the constitution. The illegal nature of his martial law decree was one of the key factors in the Constitutional Court confirming Yoon's impeachment and him being charged with insurrection in the ongoing criminal investigation, The Korea Herald said.

After he declared martial law, Yoon had an argument with his wife Kim Keon Hee during which Kim reportedly blamed him, saying, "We're screwed because of you," according to Cho's team on Monday, The Korea Herald reported.

Cho's team denied allegations that Kim was involved in any way in the decision or preparations to declare martial law, the report said.

Global Times