Ex-South Korean President Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Drone Attack on North Korea

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol/DOK via WIkimedia Commons

JAKARTA - A South Korean court has sentenced former president Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison for ordering an attack with a North Korean drone.

Yoon Suk Yeol's instructions are considered to increase cross-border tensions and create an excuse to impose martial law in December 2024.

Former South Korean defense minister Kim Yong Hyun, who was tried along with Yoon Suk Yeol, was also sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Reported by ANTARA from Kyodo, Friday, June 12, the Seoul Central District Court found the two guilty of actions that benefited the enemy, Kyodo News reported.

The judge ruled that they deliberately tried to create a national emergency situation so that it could be used as a basis for declaring a state of emergency.

"This is directly contrary to the purpose of granting the defendants the authority to declare a state of military emergency in an emergency. By disguising it as a legitimate military operation, they exploit soldiers for personal gain, and betray the fundamental trust that military power should be used for legal purposes," the court said.

The court also stated that the defendants had betrayed the public trust, in which the president and the defense minister used military power solely for legitimate purposes, such as national defense.

Damage to this trust is considered to hinder the rapid execution of military operations in the future.

Previously, South Korea's special prosecutor demanded a 30-year prison sentence for SukYeol and 25 years in prison for Yong Hyun.

In February, Yoo Suk Yeol was sentenced to life imprisonment for being the "brains" behind the uprising through a short-lived military emergency decree. Currently, he is in custody and is facing several other trials.