Court Jails Yoon for 30 Years Over Drone Plot

A South Korean court on Friday sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison over his involvement in a military drone operation over Pyongyang that prosecutors said helped create a pretext for his failed martial law declaration in December 2024.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of abuse of power and aiding the enemy. The court ruled that he had participated in planning the October 2024 drone incursion into North Korea from the beginning.

Yoon denied any wrongdoing. His legal team argued that he neither ordered nor approved the operation. The lawyers maintained that the drone mission had no connection to the martial law declaration and instead served as a response to months of North Korean balloon launches carrying rubbish across the border.

Prosecutors had requested a 30-year prison sentence for Yoon during proceedings in April.

The latest verdict adds to a series of legal setbacks for the former conservative leader, who previously served as South Korea’s top prosecutor. His December 2024 martial law declaration triggered one of the country’s most severe political crises in decades.

In February, another South Korean court sentenced Yoon to life imprisonment after convicting him of leading an insurrection linked to the failed martial law attempt.

Authorities removed Yoon from office after the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment, paving the way for a snap presidential election. Voters subsequently elected liberal politician  as the country’s new leader.

Yoon, who remains in custody, retains the right to appeal the latest ruling.