Defense ministry dismisses drone command chief over martial law probe

Kim Yong-dae, former chief of the military's Drone Operations Command, appears for questioning at Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seoul, Aug. 17. Newsis

The defense ministry said Wednesday it has dismissed the head of the military's drone command from office over a special counsel probe into former ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law imposition.

Kim Yong-dae, former head of the Drone Operations Command, is suspected of being involved in sending drones over Pyongyang during Yoon's term in an apparent move to provoke the North and use it as a pretext for his imposition of martial law on Dec. 3 last year.

He was indicted last month without physical detention on charges of obstructing official duties and soliciting the drafting of false official documents by a special counsel team that also charged Yoon over allegations of sending the drones.

In another dismissal of a senior official, the ministry said it also had dismissed from office Kim Dong-hyuk, the former chief of the defense ministry's prosecution office, as of Tuesday.

Kim was indicted by a special counsel team over his involvement in a cover-up case related to the 2023 death of a young Marine.