Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is currently serving a life sentence for insurrection over declaring a martial law in 2024, has received an additional sentencing of 30 years for sending drones into North Korea.
Prosecutors alleged that Yoon ordered the operation in October 2024 to provoke Pyongyang and create a false front for his failed martial law attempt in December that year. Yoon had cited protecting the country from “anti-state” forces that sympathised with North Korea as his reason for making the announcement, leading to a suspension of political activities, restrictions on the press, and arrests of political opponents. However, he rolled back the order after mass protests and was later impeached.
The Seoul District Court on Friday ruled that Yoon, along with his former Defense Minister Kim Yong-Hyun, former head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command Yeo In-hyung, and former head of Drone Operations Commands Kin Yong-dae were guilty of treason and abuse of power.
The court sentenced Kim Yong-hyun to 30 years in jail, Yeo to 15 years, and Kim Yong-dae to three years in prison with a five-year suspended sentence.
“The defendants used the guise of a military operation to induce provocations from North Korea with the aim of creating a state of emergency,” said the court.
It accused the three officials of provoking Pyongyang and “increasing the risk of a military conflict” but assigned Yoon the “greatest responsibility” in the event.
Yoon’s lawyers argued that his actions were a “legitimate” response to North Korea dropping hundred of balloons in 2024, which were later found to contain waste, across the Southern border.
North Korea had accused the South of flying drones into Pyongyang in 2024, allegedly scattering propaganda leaflets across the city. The North called the move an act of provocation that could lead to war.
The judge ruled on Friday that Yoon sent the drones into the country, expecting it to strike back.
