South Korea court sentences ex-president Yoon to 30-year jail term in drone case

In February, a South Korean court sentenced Yoon to life in prison after finding ​him guilty of leading an insurrection linked to the ​martial law ⁠attempt. 4 A protester punches an effigy of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at a demonstration. AFP via Getty Images 4 A bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arriving at the Seoul Central District Court for his sentencing trial.

via REUTERS He was removed from office last year after the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment, triggering a snap election that was won by liberal President ⁠Lee ​Jae Myung. Yoon, who is already in custody, can ​appeal Friday’s lower court ruling.

The embattled former president has appealed the earlier rulings against him.

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South Korea South Korea court sentences ex-president Yoon to 30-year jail term in drone case Jun 12, 2026 10:54 AM PHT Reuters Listen to this article Upgrade to listen Powered by Speechify Already have Rappler+? Sign in to listen to groundbreaking journalism.

SUMMARY This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article. YOON SUK-YEOL. File photo shows former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol at the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, on January 23, 2025.

Jeon Heon-kyun/Pool via Reuters INFO The Seoul Central District Court finds Yoon guilty of abuse of power and aiding the enemy, saying he conspired in the October 2024 drone incursion from the outset SEOUL, South Korea – A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk-yeol to 30 years in prison on Friday, June 12, over charges linked to military drones sent over Pyongyang to help create a pretext for his failed December 2024 martial law declaration, Yonhap reported.

The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of abuse of power and aiding the enemy, saying he had conspired in the October 2024 drone incursion from the outset, the news agency said. Yoon denied wrongdoing. His lawyers said he neither ordered nor later approved the operation, which they said was unrelated to martial law and instead a response to months of North Korean launches across the border of balloons stuffed with rubbish.

Prosecutors had sought a 30-year prison term for Yoon in April. The ruling adds to a series of judgments against the ousted conservative leader, once South Korea’s top prosecutor, whose martial law order plunged Asia’s fourth-largest economy into its deepest political turmoil in decades.

In February, a South Korean court sentenced Yoon to life in prison after finding him guilty of leading an insurrection linked to the martial law attempt. He was removed from office last year after the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment, triggering a snap election that was won by liberal President Lee Jae-myung.

Yoon, who is already in custody, can appeal Friday’s lower court ruling. com Summarize this article with AI Share in Chat Share article Facebook X (Twitter) Copy Link Copied How does this make you feel?

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Facebook X More Pinterest Linked in Tumblr Reddit Facebook Messenger Copy URL URL is copied. OK (ATTN: UPDATES with details of Yoon's appeal, response in paras 5, 15) SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Friday sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison after finding him guilty of ordering drone infiltrations into North Korea in an attempt to heighten cross-border tensions and create a basis for his martial law declaration in December 2024.

The Seoul Central District Court convicted the jailed former president on charges of benefiting the enemy and abuse of power in its ruling that matched special counsel Cho Eun-suk's sentencing recommendation. The court recognized that Yoon had ordered the operation in October 2024 to provoke Pyongyang and use the anticipated increase in cross-border tensions as a pretext for his Dec.

3 declaration of martial law. Yoon's legal team appealed the ruling hours later. In a press conference, his legal team criticized the ruling, saying the judiciary will eventually pay the price for making a faulty argument and that the ruling appears to align with the position of North Korea.

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol (Pool photo) (Yonhap) The court also sentenced former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun to 30 years in prison for his role in such operations, higher than the 25 years sought by the special counsel. It sentenced Yeo In-hyung, former head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, to 15 years in prison for his involvement in the operation, while Kim Yong-dae, former chief of the Drone Operations Command, received a three-year sentence suspended for five years.

"In order to create conditions for martial law, the defendants decided to use the military tactic of psychological warfare to incite North Korea and induce a provocation, and use that to prompt an armed provocation, such as a local conflict, or create a national security crisis situation resulting from heightened military tension," the court said.

It said the actions amounted to "betraying" the people's expectation that the president and the defense minister would use military force only for legitimate purposes, adding that there was a personal motivation behind the operation. Yoon's legal team has argued that the drone deployment was a legitimate military operation in response to North Korea's launches of trash-carrying balloons into South Korea in 2024.

The court ruled that the operation undermined South Korea's security interests by exposing its military assets to North Korea and, as a result, strengthening North Korea's military readiness. In October 2024, Pyongyang accused Seoul of drone infiltrations and dropping propaganda leaflets over the North's capital.

Then Defense Minister Kim had initially denied the North Korean accusation. The defense ministry later said it could neither confirm nor deny the accusation. Friday's ruling marked the latest conviction for Yoon, who is currently in custody and faces multiple trials linked to his botched martial law bid.

In February, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for leading an insurrection through his martial law declaration. He has appealed that ruling. The special counsel team welcomed Friday's ruling, saying the court made a judgment on the duplicity of those in charge of national security who neglected security in pursuit of political interest.