Former President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea was sentenced for ordering military drones to fly over North Korea. This action was aimed at escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula to justify the declaration of martial law.
Yoon, 65, faced multiple criminal charges in eight different trials. He was impeached and removed from office for illegally imposing martial law in 2024. In February, a court found him guilty of masterminding an insurrection and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon to 30 years in prison for the drone operation. This charge was the second-most serious against him, for undermining South Korea’s military interests. This crime previously carried a maximum sentence of life in prison. Yoon is the first former president of South Korea convicted of this charge.
The court’s three-judge panel determined that Yoon and his collaborators dispatched drones across the inter-Korean border, the most fortified frontier globally, in late 2024. Their goal was to escalate military tensions with North Korea, which Yoon could then use to justify martial law.
A special prosecutor recommended a 30-year sentence, labeling the operation as an “anti-state and anti-national crime.” Co-conspirators, former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun and former counterintelligence commander Lt. Gen. Yeo In-hyong, also received sentences. Kim was sentenced to 30 years and Yeo to 15 years. Both men had prior lengthy sentences related to Yoon’s martial law declaration.
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