Impeached South Korean President Gets 30 More Years for Treason Case

A Seoul district court on Friday sentenced former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 additional years in prison after convicting him of sending drones into North Korean territory. Prosecutors said Yoon ordered the operation in October 2024 to provoke Pyongyang, creating a pretext for his later, failed attempt to impose martial law that same year.

Yoon declared martial law on December 3, saying he was protecting the country from anti-state forces linked to North Korea. The move quickly collapsed under mass public protests, and he was removed from office. He is already serving a life sentence for the attempted coup.

The court also found former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, former Counterintelligence Command chief Yeo In-hyung, and former Drone Operations Command head Kim Yong-dae guilty of treason and abuse of authority. Kim Yong-hyun received 30 years, Yeo was sentenced to 15 years, and Kim Yong-dae got three years with probation. The judges said the defendants used a military operation as cover to provoke North Korea and create an emergency, adding that all three senior officials had escalated the risk of military conflict, while Yoon bore the greatest responsibility.

Yoon’s lawyers argued that the drone operation was a legitimate response to North Korea’s “trash balloons,” hundreds of which were sent north to south in 2024 carrying dirt and garbage. The two Koreas have used propaganda balloons since the Korean War, but tensions intensified in 2024 after North Korea accused the South of flying drones over Pyongyang and dropping leaflets there. The court said Yoon was behind those drone flights too, expecting a reaction. Separately, he also received a five-year sentence for abuse of authority and obstructing his own arrest. His martial-law bid and the ensuing protests led to months of turmoil and ended with opposition leader Lee Jae-myung winning a landslide election.