A court in South Korea has handed former President Yoon Suk Yeol a 30-year prison sentence over allegations that he ordered drones to be sent into North Korea.
Prosecutors said the drone operation, carried out in October 2024, was designed to provoke Pyongyang and help Yoon justify his later attempt to impose martial law. When Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3, he claimed the move was necessary to defend South Korea from “anti-state” elements sympathetic to the North. However, the order was quickly reversed after widespread protests, and critics argued it was driven by Yoon’s political problems at home rather than a genuine national security threat.
Yoon was later impeached and is already imprisoned after receiving a life sentence for insurrection connected to the failed martial law declaration.
On Friday, the Seoul District Court found Yoon guilty of treason and abuse of power, along with several former military officials. Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun also received a 30-year sentence. Yeo In-hyung, the former chief of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, was sentenced to 15 years, while Kim Yong-dae, who previously led the Drone Operations Command, was given a three-year prison term suspended for five years.
The court said the defendants had disguised the drone mission as a military operation while trying to trigger a North Korean response that could be used to create an emergency situation. Judges said the operation heightened the danger of armed conflict, while identifying Yoon as the person most responsible.
Yoon’s legal team argued that the drone flights were a lawful response to North Korean provocations, including the North’s launch of balloons carrying trash and waste into South Korea in 2024. Both Koreas have used balloon-based propaganda tactics since the Korean War, but tensions escalated sharply when North Korea accused the South of sending drones over Pyongyang to drop propaganda leaflets.
In its ruling, the court concluded that Yoon had ordered the drones into North Korea in the hope that Pyongyang would retaliate.
In addition to the insurrection case, Yoon has also received a five-year sentence for abuse of power and obstructing efforts to arrest him.
His failed martial law attempt plunged South Korea into months of political turmoil, ending with an election victory for opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung.
