Since the start of the investigation, the Special Prosecutor’s Office has indicted a total of 24 individuals, including former President Yoon Suk-yeol, former Prime Minister and Acting President Han Duck-soo, former Deputy Prime Minister and Acting President Choi Sang-mok, former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, former Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae, former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, former Minister of Government Legislation Lee Wan-kyu, former Presidential Chief of Staff Jung Jin-seok, former Chief of the Presidential Security Service Park Jong-joon, former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Kim Joo-hyun, National Assembly members Choo Kyung-ho and Lim Jong-deuk, and former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn.

As a result of the investigation, it was confirmed that Yoon Suk-yeol and others had been preparing for the declaration of emergency martial law since before October 2023, and that they declared martial law for the purpose of suspending political activities and the functions of the National Assembly through military force, seizing legislative and judicial authority through an emergency legislative body to replace the National Assembly, eliminating opposing forces, and monopolizing and maintaining power.

In order to create a justification for declaring martial law, they attempted to induce a North Korean military provocation through abnormal military operations, but when North Korea failed to respond militarily, Yoon Suk-yeol, Kim Yong-hyun, Noh Sang-won, and Yeo In-hyung framed political activities taking place in the National Assembly as “anti-state acts” and “anti-state forces plotting insurrection,” and on that basis declared martial law.

As we know from historical experience, the justifications presented by palace coups carried out by those in power are merely a façade, and the true purpose has always been nothing other than the elimination of opposing forces.

Upon taking office, Yoon Suk-yeol relocated the presidential office to the Ministry of National Defense building located adjacent to the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters inside the Yongsan military base, and relocated the presidential residence to Hannam-dong.

As a result, the president came to be physically located inside a military base together with the military command, and with the residences of the Minister of National Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff located in close proximity to the president and the head of the Presidential Security Service, conditions were created in which the president and the military became closely integrated.

Through objective physical evidence—including notebooks seized from former Defense Intelligence Commander Noh Sang-won, mobile phone memos of Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung, and statements from related individuals—the Special Prosecutor confirmed that well before the April 2024 general election, Yoon Suk-yeol conspired sequentially with Kim Yong-hyun, and Kim Yong-hyun conspired with Noh Sang-won and Yeo In-hyung, to prepare for emergency martial law.

Ahead of military personnel appointments in October 2023, Kim Yong-hyun and Noh Sang-won discussed appointments for the Army Chief of Staff, Counterintelligence Commander, and Ground Operations Commander, as well as the 9th and 30th Divisions as forces to suppress resistance during martial law. After October 2023, these appointments were carried out exactly as discussed.

Afterward, Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim Yong-hyun fixed the timing of martial law for after the general election, and regardless of the election results continued discussions on how to execute martial law. Beginning around March 2024, through dinners and meetings at secure residences and the presidential residence, they induced commanders including Yeo In-hyung, Lee Jin-woo, and Kwak Jong-geun to perceive the political situation as a national crisis caused by pro–North Korean leftist forces, shared awareness of the necessity of martial law, and repeatedly impressed upon them Yoon Suk-yeol’s determination to declare martial law.

In July 2024, during a stop in Hawaii after attending the NATO summit, Yoon Suk-yeol told Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Kang Ho-pil that “Han Dong-hoon is a communist” and asked whether the military should participate. When this was reported to then–Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, Shin strongly expressed opposition to martial law, after which Yoon Suk-yeol abruptly replaced Shin with Kim Yong-hyun as Minister of National Defense.

After the defense minister was replaced, the opposition raised strong suspicions regarding a possible declaration of martial law, which the Presidential Office, Kim Yong-hyun, and Han Duck-soo publicly dismissed as “false agitation” and “political incitement,” claiming that martial law was impossible.

Nevertheless, Noh Sang-won, who had prepared martial law with Kim Yong-hyun, directly contacted intelligence officials on September 9, 2024, requesting the selection of “7 to 8 special agents skilled in shooting and demolition,” thereby beginning personnel mobilization.

Mobile phone memos by Yeo In-hyung and statements from related individuals show that beginning in October 2024, Yoon Suk-yeol, Kim Yong-hyun, and Yeo In-hyung executed various abnormal military operations with the purpose of inducing North Korean military provocation in order to create a justification for martial law.

When this effort failed due to the Joint Chiefs’ passive stance and North Korea’s lack of response, Yoon and others exploited the political situation, falsely characterizing opposition legislation, impeachment, and budget disputes as anti-state acts constituting insurrection, and on that basis declared emergency martial law late at night on December 3, 2024, under the pretext of swiftly eradicating anti-state forces.

The Special Prosecutor confirmed through Noh Sang-won’s notebook, Choi Sang-mok’s directive documents, instructions by Lee Sang-min and others, and Yeo In-hyung’s memos that Yoon Suk-yeol and his associates intended to suspend political activity and National Assembly functions by force, seize legislative and judicial authority through an emergency legislative body, eliminate opposition forces, and monopolize and maintain power.