SEOUL, South Korea: South Korea’s ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol (pic) was sentenced to 30 years in prison yesterday for sending military drones into North Korea, a move prosecutors argued was aimed at creating a pretext for his disastrous martial law declaration in 2024.
The drone flights, which Pyongyang said included the dropping of propaganda leaflets, triggered a spike in military tensions between the nations in October 2024.
Special prosecutors said back in April that Yoon’s effort to “fabricate wartime conditions” with the drones had undermined state security.
Yoon was “given 30 years in jail” for the charges involving the drones, a spokesperson for the Seoul Central District Court told AFP yesterday, without giving further details.
This sentence comes after Yoon was given life in jail in February for leading an insurrection to “paralyse” South Korea’s National Assembly with his martial law declaration.
Prosecutors had also argued that the operation heightened tensions with North Korea and led to the leak of classified information — including details about force capabilities — after the drones crashed, the Yonhap news agency reported.
They had sought a 30-year jail term for the disgraced ex-president over the deployment of military drones into North Korea.
Yoon has appealed against the insurrection conviction, insisting that he declared martial law “solely for the sake of the nation”. – AFP
No new clashes after two nights of unrest
13 June 2026
08:12
