South Korea’s Seoul Central District Court sentences former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison for ordering drones to enter North Korea in October 2024. Multiple outlets report that prosecutors argued the operation was intended to provoke Pyongyang and help create a pretext for Yoon’s failed martial law declaration in December 2024. Prosecutors and special counsel teams say the drone mission sought to “fabricate wartime conditions” and thereby undermine state security. The court also finds Yoon guilty of charges including abuse of power and aiding the enemy, with reporting that the court viewed his involvement as part of a broader plan from the outset of the drone incident.

The 30-year sentence is described as one of several legal rulings against Yoon following his removal from office and his broader criminal exposure connected to the martial law episode. In February, he received a life sentence related to an insurrection tied to the martial law declaration, which outlets frame as South Korea’s deepest political turmoil. The outlets also note that Yoon denies wrongdoing in the drone matter.