South Korea court sentences Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison

A Seoul court on Friday sentenced Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison, saying the ousted president conspired in military drone flights over North Korea to create a pretext for his failed December 3, 2024, martial law declaration. The ruling cast the operation as more than a covert provocation, describing it as part of an effort to turn cross-border tension into political cover for emergency rule.

The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of aiding an enemy and abusing power, saying he was involved from the outset. Prosecutors had argued that the drone operation was designed to provoke Pyongyang into a response that could be used to justify domestic authoritarian measures, and the court also sentenced Yoon’s former defense minister in the same case.

North Korea had accused Seoul of flying drones over Pyongyang to drop propaganda leaflets three times in October 2024, and the court said the operation harmed South Korea’s military interests by exposing capabilities, undermining future operations and prompting North Korea to strengthen its defenses. That finding matters beyond one covert mission: it suggests a deliberate attempt to manufacture a national-security crisis, then use the crisis to test the limits of constitutional government.

Yoon was already in custody when the sentence was handed down and can appeal. The ruling followed his impeachment and removal from office after the Constitutional Court of Korea upheld that impeachment, and it came after liberal President Lee Jae Myung won the snap election that followed Yoon’s ouster. Multiple outlets also reported that Yoon had already received a life sentence in a separate rebellion case tied to the same martial law episode, deepening the legal collapse around his bid to rule through military tension.