Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol sought to provoke a North Korean military response to justify his martial law attempt, an independent team of special prosecutors concluded Monday after a six-month investigation into the country’s unprecedented emergency declaration last year.

The head of the special counsel team on Insurrection and Foreign Aggression Cho Eun-suk said investigators determined that Yoon, beginning in Oct. 2024, directed or condoned a series of “abnormal military operations” designed to pressure Pyongyang into military action. 

The goal, Cho said Monday morning, was to find the pretext to impose martial law.

According to the findings,