S Korea leader 'feels should apologize' to Pyongyang over predecessor's actions

SEOUL

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a news conference to mark the first anniversary of the Dec. 3 martial law crisis at the Blue House in Seoul, South Korea.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Wednesday he felt an apology was due to North Korea over his predecessor's alleged order to send drones and propaganda leaflets across the border.

"I feel I should apologize, but I hesitate to say it out loud," he said at a news conference marking a year after former president Yoon Suk Yeol plunged the country briefly into chaos by declaring martial law.

"I worry that if I do, it could be used as fodder for ideological battles or accusations of being pro-North."

Lee's comment centres on allegations that Yoon instructed the military to fly drones over Pyongyang and distribute anti-North leaflets in an attempt to provoke a military response.

Action from North Korea would have strengthened Yoon's case for declaring martial law under the guise of a national emergency.

Prosecutors indicted the disgraced former president last month on charges of aiding the enemy.

Yoon and others "conspired to create conditions that would allow the declaration of emergency martial law, thereby increasing the risk of inter-Korean armed confrontation and harming public military interests", prosecutors said.

North Korea said last year it had proven that the South flew drones to drop propaganda leaflets over its capital, an act that Seoul's military has not confirmed.