Former South Korean President Sentenced to 30 Years Over Drone Mission to North Korea

Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced today to 30 years in prison over the sending of drones to North Korea, which prosecutors said was intended to create a pretext for declaring martial law in December 2024. The Central District Court in Seoul confirmed the sentence to AFP. Prosecutors had asked for 30 years, arguing in April that Yoon’s effort to “fabricate conditions for war” through the drone operation undermined national security.

According to the prosecution, the operation also escalated tensions with North Korea and caused leaks of classified information, including details about South Korea’s military capabilities, after the drones crashed. Pyongyang said the drones also scattered propaganda leaflets, and the drone campaign sharply worsened military tensions in October 2024.

Yoon has appealed the ruling and insists he declared martial law “only for the sake of the nation.” His lawyers said the drone operation was a response to North Korean balloons carrying trash across the border earlier that year, describing it as a “legitimate act of self-defense” with no connection to his martial law declaration. They called the prosecutors’ claims “a story based on speculation and pure fiction.”

The case comes after Yoon was already sentenced in February to life in prison for leading a rebellion aimed at paralyzing the South Korean parliament through the martial law declaration. On the night of December 3, 2024, he unexpectedly announced martial law in a televised speech and sent the military to the National Assembly, but the attempt collapsed within six hours when lawmakers forced through a vote against it. Yoon is currently in prison and faces multiple charges.