South Korea's former president Yoon Suk-yeol sentenced to 30 years for drone provocation plan

A Seoul district court sentenced former president Yoon Suk-yeol and ex‑defence minister Kim Yong‑hyun each to 30 years in prison for ordering a drone operation that flew into North Korea. The court found the operation was intended to provoke Pyongyang and create a pretext for declaring a state of emergency and martial law in December 2024.

Judges said the scheme used psychological‑war tactics to stir military tension, endangering South Korean civilians and troops. In addition to the two primary defendants, former head of the Defence Counter‑Intelligence Command Yeo In‑hyung received 15 years, and former head of the Drone Operations Command Kim Yong‑dae was given a three‑year suspended sentence. Yoon, already serving a life sentence for an illegal emergency declaration and a five‑year term for obstruction of justice, said his lawyers will appeal.

The verdict underscores South Korea’s crackdown on the illegal use of military resources to fabricate a crisis and highlights ongoing legal repercussions for officials who sought to manipulate security threats for political ends.