Yoon gets 30 years for drone plot aimed at riling North Korea so he could declare martial law

South Korea’s disgraced former President Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced to 30 years in prison for treason for a plot that involved flying drones over Pyongyang to lure North Korea into a conflict as a pretext for declaring martial law.

The Seoul Central District Court on Friday handed Yoon the sentence, convicting him of charges including treason and abuse of power to obstruct the exercise of rights.

Also on trial were Yoon’s defense minister at the time, Kim Yong-hyun, and Yeo In-hyeong, the commander of the Defense Counterintelligence Command. Kim Yong-hyung was handed the same sentence as Yoon, while Yeo received 15 years behind bars.

Kim Yong-dae, who was head of the Drone Operations Command during the plot, stood trial on charges of abuse of power and instigation of destruction of military property for leading the operations. He received three years with a five-year stay of execution.

Yoon and the others were accused of carrying out drone operations in October and November 2024 to provoke the North into an armed response to justify a declaration of martial law. A probe led by special counsel Cho Eun-seok indicted Yoon and others on treason charges, arguing that they harmed the country’s military interests or provided related advantages to an enemy state.

In its ruling, the court found that Yoon, Kim Yong-hyun and Yeo “deliberately created a state of emergency to secure the authority to declare martial law.”

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