A court in South Korea has sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison over allegations connected to a military drone operation involving Pyongyang.
The ruling, delivered on Friday, June 12 by the Seoul Central District Court, found Yoon guilty of abuse of power and aiding the enemy. The court said he conspired in an October 2024 drone incursion into North Korea, which prosecutors argued was intended to create justification for a failed martial law declaration later that year.
According to the court, the operation was linked to broader political tensions surrounding Yoon’s attempted imposition of martial law in December 2024, which ultimately failed and triggered a major constitutional crisis.
Prosecutors had sought a 30-year sentence, arguing that the former president played a central role in authorising or facilitating the drone operation. Yoon, however, denied the allegations, insisting he neither ordered nor approved the mission. His legal team maintained that the drone flights were unrelated to martial law and were instead a response to North Korea’s earlier actions, including the launching of balloons carrying waste materials across the border.
The verdict adds to a series of legal setbacks for Yoon, who was previously convicted in a separate case tied to the martial law attempt and sentenced to life imprisonment earlier in the year.
He was removed from office following impeachment proceedings that were later upheld by South Korea’s Constitutional Court, paving the way for a snap election won by liberal politician Lee Jae Myung.
Yoon, who remains in custody, is expected to appeal the latest ruling.