South Korea's former president Yoon Suk Yeol has been handed a 30-year prison sentence for sending drones over Pyongyang - a move prosecutors argued was meant to fabricate a crisis to justify his failed 2024 martial law declaration. The Seoul Central District Court found him guilty of abuse of power and aiding the enemy, concluding he was in on the October 2024 drone incursion from the start. Special prosecutors had previously said Yoon's effort to "fabricate wartime conditions" with the drones undermined state security, which is generally considered bad form for a head of state.
Yoon, naturally, denied everything. His lawyers claimed he neither ordered nor later approved the operation, insisting it was unrelated to martial law and instead a response to months of North Korean balloon launches that were, apparently, filled with rubbish. Because nothing says proportional response like sending drones over a nuclear-armed neighbor's capital.
North Korea accused Seoul of flying drones over Pyongyang to drop propaganda leaflets three times in October 2024. South Korea's then-defense minister Kim Yong-hyun issued a vague denial before the defense ministry said it could neither confirm nor deny the allegations - which is diplomatic-speak for "we're not saying it wasn't us." Tensions rose sharply but, mercifully, did not escalate into military clashes.
A spokesperson for the Seoul Central District Court confirmed the 30-year sentence to AFP, with South Korean news agency Yonhap also reporting on the judgment. Yoon, who is already in custody, can appeal Friday's lower court ruling - so this might not be the final chapter in his legal adventures.
Prosecutors argued the drone operation heightened tensions with North Korea and led to a leak of classified information - including details about force capabilities - after the drones crashed. Because apparently the drones weren't just bad ideas; they were also bad at their jobs.
Friday's ruling adds to a growing collection of judgments against the ousted conservative leader. His martial law order plunged Asia's fourth-largest economy into its deepest political turmoil in decades. Yoon was already given life in prison in February for leading an insurrection to "paralyse" South Korea's National Assembly with his martial law declaration. He has appealed that conviction, insisting he declared martial law "solely for the sake of the nation." The nation, however, seems to have a different opinion.
Yoon was removed from office last year after the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment, triggering a snap election won by liberal President Lee Jae Myung. Drone flights remain a flashpoint in tensions between the two Koreas, which are technically still at war - a state of affairs that sending drones probably doesn't help.
Lee expressed regret earlier this year after an investigation found government officials had sent drones into the nuclear-armed North in January. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's powerful sister called Lee's statement "wise behavior," but hopes for a rapprochement faded after the diplomatically isolated nation returned to calling the South its "most hostile" enemy. So, back to the usual programming.