Prosecutors seek arrest warrant for drone operations chief in martial law probe

Kim Yong-dae, commander of the Drone Operations Command, arrives at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seoul for questioning on July 17, 2025. Yonhap

SEOUL, July 20 (AJP) - Independent prosecutors are seeking an arrest warrant for the head of a key military unit responsible for drone operations, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

They said the warrant was filed on Sunday to secure the custody of Kim Yong-dae, commander of the Drone Operations Command, as part of their investigation into disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched martial law debacle late last year.

They suspect Yoon allegedly ordered Kim, in collusion with former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, to deploy drones to provoke Pyongyang in October last year as part of a broader attempt to build up excuses in advance for his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law or to justify it.

After being questioned last Thursday, Kim denied the allegations, saying, "Deploying drones had nothing to do with the debacle but was a response to North Korea's bizarre campaign of trash-filled balloons floating along the border."

But prosecutors believe Kim poses a risk of fleeing or destroying evidence.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com