[News Today] “Harmed S. Korean military interests”

[LEAD]
Could former President Yoon Suk Yeol face treason charges? That was the key question in the probe into North Korea drone infiltration. But in yesterday's raids on 24 military sites, one of the listed charges by the special prosecutor was "benefiting the enemy". Prosecutors say Yoon and former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun colluded to harm South Korea's military interests.

[REPORT]
Investigators from the special prosecutor's team walk out of the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Defense Ministry.

As part of its investigation into the treason charges against former President Yoon Suk Yeol, the special probe team raided 24 defense facilities simultaneously.

In relation with the allegations that Yoon had sent unmanned aerial vehicles to Pyongyang last October and attempted to induce armed responses from North Korea in order to establish a rationale for his martial law declaration in December, the raids were also carried out at the Command of Drone Operations, the Defense Counterintelligence Command and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

KBS found that in the raid and search warrant, the special counsel team specified the charges of benefiting the enemy and abusing power as well as obstructing the exercise of rights.

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and Drone Operations Commander Kim Yong-dae were identified as suspects.

One is subject to punishment on charges of benefiting the enemy if they are found to have harmed the nation's military interest or provided military benefits to the enemy, whether or not they operated in collusion with foreign states.

The maximum penalty is life imprisonment.

In the warrant, the three were accused of colluding to increase the risks of armed clashes between the two Koreas and thereby inflicting serious threats to national security.

It also said that the nation's military secrets like information on South Korean drones had been divulged to North Korea as a result.

The independent counsel team also accused the former president of abusing power for ordering the Drone Operations Command to dispatch UAVs without the permission of the United Nations Command.

The special prosecutor team looking into insurrection specified Yoon as a suspect in a move to launch a full-scale investigation into treason charges.

Regarding the allegations of blocking the arrest of the former president, the team summoned and questioned Park Jong-jun, former chief of the Presidential Security Service and Lee Jin-ha, former head of the PSS' security and safety division.

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