Ex-South Korean President, Yoon sentenced to 30 years imprisonment

South Korean court has sentenced former president Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison for sending drones into North Korea, a move prosecutors argued was aimed at creating a pretext for his disastrous martial law declaration in 2024.

The Seoul Central District Court handed down the sentence on Friday.

DAILY POST recalls that Yoon was given life in jail in February for leading an insurrection to “paralyse” the National Assembly with his martial law declaration.

In April, special prosecutors said Yoon’s effort to “fabricate wartime conditions” with the drones had undermined state security.

According to the prosecutors, the operation heightened tensions with North Korea and led to the leak of classified information – including details about force capabilities – after the drones crashed, Yonhap news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the ex-president has appealed against the insurrection conviction, insisting that he declared martial law “solely for the sake of the nation”.

His legal team denied the charge involving the drones, saying there was “no prior order or subsequent approval” by him for the drone operation cited by prosecutors.

They also argued that the operation was a response to North Korea sending balloons carrying trash across the border that year and was “a legitimate act of self-defence” unrelated to Yoon’s martial law declaration.

The lawyers dismissed the prosecution’s claims as a “speculative and false novel”.