Yoon Suk Yeol Sentenced to 30 Years for Drone Operation to Justify Martial Law: Court Cites 'Private Purpose'

South Korea's former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to 30 years in prison today on charges of ordering a 'drone infiltration operation into Pyongyang' to create a pretext for declaring emergency martial law. The court ruled that the operation served a private purpose unrelated to national security or territorial defense.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Criminal Agreement Division 36 of the Seoul Central District Court sentenced former President Yoon to 30 years in prison on charges of general benefit to the enemy and abuse of authority obstructing the exercise of rights. Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who was tried alongside him, also received a 30-year sentence, while former Defense Intelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung was sentenced to 15 years.

The court found that Yoon and his co-conspirators, around October 2024, instructed the Drone Operations Command to infiltrate drones into Pyongyang to provoke a military response from North Korea, thereby creating a reason to declare emergency martial law.

The court stated that the operation could not be viewed as a legitimate military response to North Korea's balloon launches but was carried out for a private purpose unrelated to national security or territorial defense. The court noted that the operation hindered military forces that should have been immediately available in an emergency and exposed military secrets to North Korea, thereby damaging military interests.

The court also found Yoon and Kim guilty of abuse of authority in the process of issuing the operation orders. The court stated that the defendants, who hold general command authority over the military, made soldiers carry out an illegal operation, 'abusing their authority by issuing orders through the chain of command, forcing soldiers to perform work they had no duty to do.'

In explaining the sentencing rationale, the court noted that the degree of damage to military interests had not reached an extremely serious level. However, it criticized that 'the defendants used a military operation to induce North Korean provocation in order to create a situation for emergency martial law.' The court pointed out that the president and defense minister should only use military operations for legitimate purposes such as territorial defense, but the two betrayed the basic expectations of the people.

Yoon's legal team stated after the verdict that if the judiciary labels people as insurrectionists or enemies of the state using such forced logic, it will inevitably pay a price in the future. The team announced its intention to appeal.