Seoul’s central district court sentenced former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison on May 9 over his role in sending military drones into North Korea. A court spokesperson confirmed the sentence to AFP but did not provide details.
According to special prosecutors, the drone flights were intended to “create conditions for war” as a pretext for Yoon’s disastrous martial law declaration in December 2024. North Korea accused the drones of dropping propaganda leaflets across the border, escalating military tensions in October 2024.
Prosecutors, who had sought a 30-year term, argued that the actions undermined national security. Yoon has denied any wrongdoing; his lawyers said he neither ordered nor supported the drone campaign, claiming it was a response to North Korea’s months-long launch of trash-carrying balloons across the border.
The sentence follows a series of rulings against the former president and onetime top prosecutor. In February, another court convicted him of leading a rebellion linked to the martial law plot. He was removed from office last year after the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment, paving the way for a snap election won by President Lee Jae Myung’s liberal party.
Yoon can appeal the verdict. The drone flights remain a flashpoint in inter-Korean tensions, as the two Koreas remain technically at war. Earlier, President Lee expressed regret after an investigation showed officials had sent drones into the North. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister called it a “wise move,” but hopes for detente soon faded as Pyongyang again labeled South Korea its “most hostile enemy.”
