South Korean ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol sentenced to prison term of 30 years over military drone incursion

SEOUL, June 12 — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison on Friday for charges ​linked to his ordering an incursion of military drones over North Korea to ​help create a pretext for his failed December 2024 ⁠martial law declaration.

The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of aiding ​the enemy and abuse of power, saying he had conspired in the ​October 2024 drone incursion over Pyongyang from the outset, according to a court statement.

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.

Yoon had denied any wrongdoing over the drone incursion.

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.

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.

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