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Yoon Suk Yeol Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison Over Drone Infiltration Case

June 12, 2026 • 06:18 UTC Mumtaz Ahmad 6 min read South Korea

SEOUL — June 12, 2026 — Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been sentenced to 30 years in prison on charges of general treason and abuse of power for ordering military drone infiltrations into North Korea intended to provoke Pyongyang and create a pretext for his failed December 2024 martial law declaration, the Seoul Central District Court ruled on Friday, June 12.

The court found that the drone operations, conducted in October 2024, compromised South Korea’s military interests by exposing classified military assets to North Korea, effectively benefiting the enemy . The sentencing matched the 30-year term sought by special counsel Cho Eun-suk .

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“[The] defendants used the guise of a military operation to induce provocations from North Korea with the aim of creating a state of emergency,” the court said in its ruling . The judges concluded that Yoon bore the “greatest responsibility” in the incident, which heightened cross-border military tensions and increased the risk of armed conflict .

Scheme to Manufacture National Security Crisis

The court determined that Yoon had ordered the drone infiltration of Pyongyang in October 2024 expecting North Korea to retaliate militarily . The former president intended to use the anticipated escalation as justification for his December 3, 2024, martial law declaration, which plunged Asia’s fourth-largest economy into its deepest political turmoil in decades .

“In order to create conditions for martial law, the defendants decided to use the military tactic of psychological warfare to incite North Korea and induce a provocation, and use that to prompt an armed provocation, such as a local conflict, or create a national security crisis situation resulting from heightened military tension,” the court stated .

Yoon’s actions amounted to “betraying” the people’s expectation that the president would use military force only for legitimate purposes, with the court noting that personal motivation was involved in the operation .

Multiple Convictions

Friday’s sentence adds to Yoon’s existing legal troubles. In February 2026, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for leading an insurrection through his martial law declaration . He has appealed that ruling .

Additionally, Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for abuse of power and obstructing his own arrest . The former president is currently in custody .

Yoon was removed from office after South Korea’s Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment, triggering a snap presidential election won by liberal candidate Lee Jae Myung .

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Co-Defendants Also Sentenced

The Seoul Central District Court also sentenced several former officials who assisted in the scheme:

Kim Yong-hyun, former defense minister: 30 years in prison, exceeding the 25 years sought by prosecutors
Yeo In-hyung, former head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command: 15 years
Kim Yong-dae, former chief of the Drone Operations Command: three years in prison, suspended for five years

Legal Team Denies Allegations, Vows Appeal

Yoon’s legal team has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to appeal the ruling, expressing “deep regret” over the court’s decision . His lawyers have argued that the drone deployment was a legitimate military operation in response to North Korea’s launches of trash-carrying balloons into South Korea in 2024, characterizing it as “a legitimate act of self-defense” unrelated to his martial law declaration .

They have maintained that Yoon “neither ordered nor later approved” the drone campaign . North Korea had accused Seoul of drone infiltrations over Pyongyang in October 2024, an accusation initially denied by then-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, though the ministry later said it could neither confirm nor deny the allegation .

The former president has the right to appeal Friday’s lower court ruling to a higher court .

SOURCES / INPUTS

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