South Korea’s former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for orchestrating a drone incursion into North Korea in October 2024. The Seoul Central District Court found him guilty of abuse of power and aiding the enemy, ruling that he conspired to send drones over Pyongyang to fabricate wartime conditions ahead of his failed martial law declaration.
The court’s verdict, delivered on Friday, follows a separate life sentence handed down in February for leading an insurrection with the 2024 martial law order. Yoon, who has been in custody, can appeal the lower court ruling. His legal team has denied any involvement in the drone operation, arguing it was a response to North Korean balloon launches and unrelated to martial law.
Prosecutors argued that the drone flights heightened tensions and led to the leak of classified military information after the drones crashed. North Korea accused Seoul of dropping propaganda leaflets, though South Korea’s defence ministry initially issued a vague denial. The incident did not escalate into military clashes but further strained inter-Korean relations.
Yoon was removed from office after the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment, and a snap election was won by liberal President Lee Jae Myung. The drone issue remains a flashpoint between the two Koreas, which are technically still at war.
