SEOUL — A South Korean court sentenced ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison on Friday after finding him guilty in a case related to military drone flights over North Korea in 2024, according to court statements and South Korean media reports. The ruling adds to a series of convictions against the former leader, who was removed from office after his impeachment was upheld and who is already serving a life sentence in a separate insurrection case.
The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of aiding an adversary and abuse of power, ruling that he had conspired in an operation that sent military drones over Pyongyang in October 2024. According to the court, the operation was intended to heighten tensions with North Korea and help create a justification for Yoon’s subsequent declaration of martial law in December 2024.
Yonhap News Agency reported that the court accepted prosecutors’ argument that the drone operation was designed to provoke a response from North Korea and manufacture a national security emergency. The court’s sentence matched the 30-year prison term sought by prosecutors earlier this year.
In its ruling, the court said the drone infiltration operation “cannot be considered a legitimate military operation,” according to Yonhap. The court further found that Yoon had ordered the operation in an effort to create conditions that could support emergency rule.
Yoon denied wrongdoing throughout the proceedings. His lawyers argued that he neither ordered nor approved the drone flights and said the operation was unrelated to martial law. The defense maintained that any military actions were responses to repeated North Korean provocations, including launches of trash-carrying balloons across the border.
The case stems from accusations by North Korea that South Korean drones flew over Pyongyang several times in October 2024 and dropped propaganda leaflets. The incidents increased tensions on the Korean Peninsula and became part of broader investigations into Yoon’s actions before his failed martial law declaration.
Yoon, a former prosecutor who was elected president in 2022, was impeached and removed from office after South Korea’s Constitutional Court upheld parliamentary action against him. A snap presidential election later brought Lee Jae Myung to power.
Yoon remains in custody and can appeal the latest ruling. Court officials said proceedings related to appeals in both the drone case and the earlier insurrection conviction remain ongoing.
