SEOUL — The Seoul Central District Court on Friday sentenced South Korea’s ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison for ordering drone flights over the North Korean capital in October 2024, a scheme the court found was designed to provoke Pyongyang into military action and create a pretext for Yoon to declare martial law at home.
The court convicted Yoon and his former defense minister, Kim Yong Hyun, on charges of aiding an adversary and abusing their power. The ruling said the drone flights harmed South Korea’s military interests by exposing its capabilities, undermining future operations, and prompting North Korea to strengthen its defense posture. The court determined that Yoon and Kim “sought to provoke North Korea into launching armed attacks or other serious provocations against South Korea to manufacture a national emergency,” according to the court’s findings.
The 30-year sentence follows a separate life sentence the same court handed down to Yoon for a rebellion conviction over his short-lived imposition of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. As MSI previously reported, prosecutors had sought the death penalty in that case; Yoon and prosecutors have both appealed the rebellion verdict.
North Korea accused Seoul of flying drones over Pyongyang to drop propaganda leaflets three times in October 2024. Kim Yong Hyun, who was defense minister at the time, issued a vague denial before the Defense Ministry stated it could neither confirm nor deny the allegations. Tensions rose sharply in the aftermath but did not lead to military clashes.
Yoon’s lawyers criticized the ruling, arguing the drone flights were a response to North Korea flying thousands of trash-carrying balloons into South Korea earlier in 2024. They contended that a guilty verdict would undermine South Korea’s security interests but did not immediately say whether they would appeal.
Investigators led by special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk had sought a 30-year prison term for Yoon, accusing him of trying to create a warlike situation while plotting an authoritarian push to remove political opponents and “monopolize” power. They had sought a 25-year term for Kim Yong Hyun, described as a key confidant who helped plan and mobilize forces for the martial law declaration.
Yoon’s martial law decree, delivered in a televised address late on Dec. 3, 2024, lasted about six hours. He accused liberal lawmakers of being North Korea-sympathizing “anti-state” forces, citing opposition impeachments of senior officials and cuts to his government’s budget. Lawmakers broke through a blockade of soldiers and police at the National Assembly and voted to overturn the measure, forcing Yoon’s cabinet to lift it.
Yoon was quickly suspended from office, impeached, and formally removed by the Constitutional Court. He was arrested in July 2025. Multiple criminal trials are ongoing.