Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s since-impeached president, had been planning for months to impose martial law and target political opponents, according to accounts.

South Korean prosecutors indicted former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun on Friday for insurrection, stemming from his alleged involvement in a failed emergency martial law attempt earlier this month,

The unexpected martial law decree and swift political fallout shocked the nation and economic markets, unsettling key allies the United States and Europe which had seen Yoon as a staunch partner in global efforts to counter China, Russia, and North Korea.