A court in Seoul has sentenced former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who served from 2022 to 2025, to 30 years in prison after finding him guilty of orchestrating a plan to send drones into North Korea in an attempt to justify the declaration of martial law.
Critics of Yoon’s administration had alleged that he imposed martial law to use the military to suppress opposition figures and detain political rivals. During that period, security forces were reportedly ordered to arrest several lawmakers who supported efforts to impeach him.
Kim Yong-hyun, who served as Defense Minister under Yoon, was also sentenced to 30 years in prison. Yeo In-hyung, the former head of counterintelligence operations, received a 15-year prison sentence, while Kim Yong-dae, who oversaw drone operations, was sentenced to five years in prison, with two years suspended.
The court stated that the three officials had deliberately provoked tensions with North Korea to create conditions that would justify the declaration of martial law, despite the risk that such actions could have triggered a military conflict between the two countries.
Yoon, identified as the mastermind behind the scheme, received this latest sentence after previously being handed a life sentence in February 2026 for crimes against the state linked to his declaration of martial law.
In December 2024, while serving as president, Yoon declared martial law, a move that was strongly condemned by opposition lawmakers who held a majority in the National Assembly and were led by Moon Jae-in, who later succeeded him in office.
Yoon and his legal team argued that the alleged drone operation had no connection to the declaration of martial law. They maintained that it was instead a response to North Korea’s repeated launches of balloons carrying waste materials into South Korea.
The former president remains in custody. The court informed him that he has the right to appeal the ruling.
