Key Points
A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison over the 2024 Pyongyang drone operation.
Prosecutors argued the drone mission was intended to create a pretext for Yoon's failed martial law declaration and heightened tensions with North Korea.
Yoon denied wrongdoing, calling the operation a legitimate act of self-defense, while several former senior officials were also convicted in the case.
SOUTH KOREA’S FORMER PRESIDENT YOON SUK YEOL has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for authorizing the deployment of drones over the North Korean capital Pyongyang in October 2024. On Friday, June 12, 2026, the Seoul Central District Court held Yoon guilty of “abuse of power” and “aiding the enemy.”
Delivering the sentence, the court held that the military drones Yoon sent over Pyongyang was to help create a pretext for his failed December 2024 martial law declaration. In April 2026, special prosecutors had said that the former president's effort to “fabricate wartime conditions” with the drones had undermined state security.
The case dates back to drone flights conducted in October and November 2024 in North Korean airspace. South Korean drones flew across the heavily fortified border and into the capital city Pyongyang. North Korea accused Seoul of drones of distributing propaganda leaflets via the drones that criticized North Korea and its regime under leader Kim Jong Un.
Earlier this year, in February, Yoon had been sentenced to life imprisonment for leading an “insurrection” to “paralyze” South Korea's National Assembly with his martial law declaration. He argued against the charge, maintaining that the decision was taken “solely for the sake of the nation.”
Prosecutors argued that the drone operation and declaration of martial law resulted in heightened tensions with North Korea and led to confidential information being leaked, including details about force capabilities after the drones crashed.
Yoon’s legal team argued against the “insurrection” charge, maintaining that his response was in retaliation to the neighboring country sending balloons filled with garbage and was “a legitimate act of self-defense” unrelated to Yoon's martial law declaration. His counsel had denied the charge involving the drones, and said there was “no prior order or subsequent approval” by Yoon for the drone operation that the prosecutors cited.
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On December 3, 2024, the then-president Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in South Korea. When he announced the decision, Yoon claimed that he was protecting the country against “anti-state” and “North Korean communist” forces that sympathized with North Korea. Under the brief state of martial law, armed troops were deployed to paralyze the South Korean National Assembly and arrest Yoon’s political opponents. However, lawmakers nullified the martial law declaration just six hours later.
In addition to Yoon, three other senior government officials were also convicted. Former defense minister Kim Yong Hyun received a 30-year prison sentence. Former counterintelligence commander Lieutenant General Yeo In Hyong was sentenced to 15 years. Former drone operations commander Kim Yong Dae received a three-year sentence suspended for five years.
Yook Suk Yeol was removed from the presidential office in December 2024, after a constitutional court upheld the impeachment motion initiated by the South Korean National Assembly. In a snap election that was conducted after his removal, Lee Jae Myung of the Democratic Party of Korea emerged victorious and took charge as the 14th president of South Korea.
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