A Seoul court on Friday sentenced former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison after finding him guilty of ordering a covert drone operation in North Korea to provoke a military response from Pyongyang, news agency Yonhap reported.
The court found that Yoon, 65, ordered drone infiltrations into North Korean territory in 2024 with the aim of provoking a military response from Pyongyang and creating a pretext to legitimize his martial law plans - though Pyongyang never responded militarily.
The court also sentenced former defence minister Kim Yong Hyun and Yeo In Hyung, former head of the Defence Counterintelligence Command to 30 and 15 years in prison respectively for their involvement in the operation. Kim Yong Dae, former chief of the Drone Operations Command, also received a three-year sentence suspended for five years.
"With the purpose of creating an environment for emergency martial law, the defendants used the guise of a military operation to induce North Korea's provocation," Yonhap quoted the Seoul court as saying.
On December 3, 2024, Yoon unexpectedly declared martial law and deployed troops in an attempt to seal off the National Assembly. In the months leading up to the decree, the dispute between the government and the opposition over a budget bill had escalated, with Yoon's plans being blocked by a political stalemate.
Earlier this year, a court found the conservative politician guilty of leading an uprising and sentenced him to life imprisonment, ruling that by imposing martial law he had sought to undermine the country's democratic constitution. He has since filed an appeal.
The former president is facing multiple trials linked to the botched martial law declaration. Several high-ranking politicians from his former Cabinet have also been sentenced to long prison terms in connection to it.
