New sentence: Former South Korean president gets 30 years for using drones to enforce martial law

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in file photo
Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool/File Photo
South Korea's deposed former president Yoon Suk Yeol and his former defense minister were sentenced to 30 years in prison on Friday (12), in a case that alleges that Yoon ordered drone flights over Pyongyang in 2024 to increase tensions with North Korea and justify declaring martial law in his own country.
The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon and his former defense minister, Kim Yong Hyun, guilty of aiding an adversary and abuse of power, saying they sought to provoke North Korea into launching armed attacks or other serious provocations against South Korea to forge a national emergency.
The court ruled that the actions harmed South Korea's military interests by exposing its capabilities, undermining its ability to carry out future operations, and prodding North Korea to strengthen its defense posture.
The same court had previously sentenced Yoon to life in prison for a rebellion conviction due to his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024.
Now on g1
North Korea accused Seoul of flying drones over Pyongyang to drop propaganda leaflets for three times in October 2024. Kim, who was South Korea's defense minister at the time, issued a vague denial before the Defense Ministry stated it could neither confirm nor deny the allegations. Tensions rose sharply but did not result in military clashes.
Yoon's lawyers criticized the latest ruling, saying the drone flights were a response to North Korea sending thousands of garbage-laden balloons to the South in early 2024. They argued that a guilty verdict would undermine South Korea's security interests, but did not immediately say whether they would appeal.
Investigators led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-suk had asked for a 30-year prison sentence for Yoon, accusing him of trying to create a situation of war between the Koreas while planning an authoritarian push to remove his political opponents and "monopolize" power. They had called for a 25-year prison sentence for Kim Yong Hyun, a key Yoon ally who helped plan and mobilize forces for Yoon's declaration of martial law. He cited a number of grievances, but particularly the opposition's impeachments of senior officials and cuts to his government's budget bill.
Martial law lasted about six hours until lawmakers broke through a blockade of soldiers and police at the National Assembly and voted to annul it, forcing Yoon's office to suspend the measure.
Yoon was quickly suspended from office, impeached, and formally removed from office by the Constitutional Court. He was arrested in July 2025 and several criminal trials are ongoing.
The verdict in the most serious case, that of rebellion, was appealed by both Yoon and prosecutors, who had requested the death penalty.

Source: G1