South Korea’s ousted Yoon gets 30 years in drone flight case
A Seoul court said Yoon Suk Yeol sought to provoke North Korea and create a pretext for martial law, according to the Associated Press.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
South Korea’s ousted former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison over alleged drone flights above Pyongyang in 2024, the Associated Press reported. The Seoul ruling adds another major prison term for Yoon, who has already received a life sentence in a separate rebellion case tied to his brief declaration of martial law.
The Seoul Central District Court also sentenced Yoon’s former defense minister, Kim Yong Hyun, to 30 years, according to the AP. The court found both men guilty of aiding an adversary and abusing their authority.
According to the AP, the court said Yoon and Kim tried to push North Korea into armed attacks or other serious provocations against the South. Judges said the alleged plan was meant to create a national emergency that could support Yoon’s imposition of martial law at home.
The court said the drone operations damaged South Korea’s military interests, according to the AP. It said the flights exposed South Korean capabilities, weakened prospects for future operations and led North Korea to strengthen its defenses.
Drone allegations preceded martial law
North Korea said in October 2024 that South Korea had sent drones over Pyongyang three times to scatter propaganda leaflets, the AP reported. Kim, then defense minister, gave an unclear denial, and South Korea’s Defense Ministry later said it could neither confirm nor deny the North’s claims.
The episode raised tensions between the two Koreas but did not produce a military clash, according to the AP. Yoon’s lawyers said the flights answered North Korea’s launch of thousands of trash-carrying balloons into South Korea earlier in 2024.
Yoon’s legal team criticized Friday’s verdict, the AP reported. The lawyers argued that convicting him would hurt South Korea’s security interests, but they did not immediately say whether they would appeal.
Special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk’s team had requested a 30-year sentence for Yoon, according to the AP. Prosecutors accused him of trying to create a warlike atmosphere between the Koreas while planning an authoritarian move to remove political opponents and “monopolize” power.
Cho’s team had sought a 25-year sentence for Kim, whom the AP described as a close Yoon ally who helped plan and mobilize forces for the martial law declaration.
Yoon faces multiple criminal cases
Yoon declared martial law late on Dec. 3, 2024, in a televised address, according to the AP. He accused liberal lawmakers of being North Korea-sympathizing “anti-state” forces and cited disputes over impeachments of senior officials and cuts to his government’s budget proposal.
The order lasted about six hours, the AP reported. Lawmakers got past a blockade of soldiers and police at the National Assembly and voted to overturn the measure, after which Yoon’s Cabinet lifted it.
Yoon was suspended from office, impeached and removed by South Korea’s Constitutional Court, according to the AP. He was arrested in July 2025, and several criminal trials are continuing.
In the rebellion case, the same Seoul court previously sentenced Yoon to life in prison over the martial law order, the AP reported. Yoon and prosecutors have both appealed that verdict; prosecutors had sought the death penalty.
This story draws on original reporting from NPR.