The former president of South Korea received more than 30 years in prison for sending drones to North Korea
A South Korean court convicted the former president Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison for launching drones into North Korea.
Prosecutors alleged that Yoon ordered the operation in October 2024 to irritate Pyongyang and provide a pretext for its failed campaign to impose martial law later that year.
On December 3, Yoon imposed martial law, claiming to protect the country from “anti-state” groups sympathetic to North Korea. But it quickly became apparent that he was motivated by domestic concerns, and reversed the decision in the face of widespread protests.
Yoon was impeached and is currently serving a life sentence for sedition in connection with the attempted imposition of martial law.
On Friday, the Seoul District Court convicted Yoon, his former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun, former Defense Counterintelligence Command chief Yeo In-hyung and former Drone Operations Command chief Kim Yong-dae of treason and abuse of power.
Kim was sentenced to 30 years in prison, Yeo to 15 years, and Kim Yong-dae to three years with a suspended sentence of five years. The court stated that the defendants used the guise of a military operation to provoke North Korea and create a state of emergency.
It also said all three officials had “provoked North Korea”, increasing the likelihood of a military conflict, but found Yoon to bear the “greatest responsibility” in the incident.
Yoon’s lawyers said his actions were a “legitimate” response to North Korea’s “trash balloon provocations.”
This referred to North Korea releasing hundreds of balloons in 2024, which were later found to contain “filthy waste and garbage” across the border in the south.
Since the Korean War, the two countries have used “propaganda balloons” with slogans inside to promote their campaigns.
However, tensions escalated in 2024 when North Korea accused the South of launching drones into its capital. These drones allegedly dropped propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang, which the North interpreted as a provocation that could lead to war.
According to the judge’s ruling on Friday, Yoon deployed those drones to the north with the expectation that they would strike back.
In addition to sedition, Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for abuse of power and preventing his own arrest.
Yoon’s attempt to declare martial law and the protests that followed sparked months of turmoil in the country, culminating in an election in which Lee Jae-myung of the opposition Democratic Party won a landslide majority.
