Ex-South Korean President, Yoon sentenced to 30 years imprisonment

A South Korean court has sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison for dispatching drones into North Korea. Prosecutors said the action was intended to provide a pretext for the president’s ill‑fated declaration of martial law in 2024.

The Seoul Central District Court issued the sentence on Friday.

Daily Post notes that Yoon was previously given a life sentence in February for leading an insurrection that aimed to “paralyse” the National Assembly with his martial law declaration.

In April, special prosecutors alleged that Yoon’s attempt to “fabricate wartime conditions” with the drones had compromised state security.

According to the prosecutors, the operation escalated tensions with North Korea and resulted in the leak of classified information—including details about force capabilities—after the drones crashed, Yonhap news agency reported.

Yoon has appealed the insurrection conviction, arguing that he declared martial law “solely for the sake of the nation.”

His legal team denied the drone charge, stating that there was “no prior order or subsequent approval” by him for the operation cited by prosecutors.

They also contended that the drones were launched in response to North Korea sending balloons carrying trash across the border that year and that the action was a legitimate act of self‑defence unrelated to Yoon’s martial law declaration.

The lawyers dismissed the prosecution’s claims as a “speculative and false novel.”