Seoul (Web Desk/Agencies): A South Korean court on Friday handed former president Yoon Suk Yeol a 30-year prison sentence in a case involving the alleged deployment of military drones toward Pyongyang, an operation prosecutors say was used to help justify his unsuccessful attempt to impose martial law in December 2024, according to Yonhap.
The Seoul Central District Court concluded that Yoon was responsible for abuse of authority and assisting an enemy, stating that he had been involved in planning the October 2024 drone operation from the very beginning.
Prosecutors maintained that the incursion was deliberately designed as part of the groundwork for the later martial law declaration.
Yoon has rejected all accusations against him. His legal representatives argue that he neither authorized nor endorsed the drone mission at any stage, insisting it was not connected to martial law plans and instead was carried out in response to North Korea’s repeated cross-border balloon launches filled with waste materials.
In April, prosecutors had formally pushed for a 30-year prison term in the case.
The latest ruling adds to a growing list of convictions and legal defeats for the former conservative leader, who once served as South Korea’s chief prosecutor and whose martial law decision triggered one of the country’s most serious political crises in decades.
Earlier in February, another court reportedly imposed a life sentence on Yoon after finding him guilty of leading an insurrection related to the martial law attempt.
He had already been removed from office after the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment, a move that led to a snap election later won by liberal politician Lee Jae Myung.
Yoon remains in detention and is still eligible to appeal the latest ruling.