▲ Maj. Gen. Kim Yong-dae, chief of the Drone Operations Command, speaks to reporters upon arrival at the Seoul High Prosecutors Office in the capital on July 17, 2025, to be questioned by a special counsel team over former President Yoon Suk Yeol's insurrection charges in connection with his Dec. 3 martial law declaration. (Yonhap)

drone command chief-suspension

Drone commander suspended over drone dispatch to N.K. allegedly linked to martial law

SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- The defense ministry said Monday it has suspended the head of the Drone Operations Command over suspicions that military drones were illegally dispatched to North Korea last year as part of preparations for former President Yoon Suk Yeol's imposition of martial law.

Maj. Gen. Kim Yong-dae, commander of the unit, was separated from his duties Monday pending suspension, the defense ministry said, a day after an arrest warrant was sought for him in connection with the investigation into Yoon's failed martial law bid last December.

A special counsel team led by Cho Eun-suk filed for the warrant for Kim, who has been in custody, on charges that include forging official documents.

The investigation team suspects Yoon gave direct orders to the drone commander in October last year to dispatch drones to North Korea without reporting to the defense ministry or the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), aiming to provoke military provocations from North Korea to allegedly justify the martial law imposition.

Kim has squarely denied his role, refuting any connection between the drone dispatch to the North and Yoon's martial law declaration and arguing that the drone dispatch proceeded legally under the JCS' orders as part of response measures to the North's balloon campaigns against the South.

The Seoul Central District Court was set to hold a hearing on whether to grant the arrest warrant for Kim on Monday afternoon.

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