Court sentences ex-president of Korea to 30 years

The court of first instance sentenced former President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk-yeol to 30 years in prison for sending drones to Pyongyang in order to create a pretext for introducing martial law.

This was reported by Yonhap news agency.

The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon Suk-yeol guilty of aiding the enemy and abusing power. The charge of aiding the enemy is used if the interests of the Republic of Korea in the military sphere were damaged even without direct collusion with the DPRK. In the fall of 2024, several drones were launched from the territory of the Republic of Korea that distributed leaflets in the vicinity of Pyongyang; at least one of them crashed and ended up in the hands of North Korean engineers.

"Although the level of damage to military interests from this operation does not appear to have been serious, the defendants attempted to provoke North Korea under the cover of a military operation in order to create conditions for declaring martial law," the judge stated.

"This operation cannot be viewed as a justified response to the sending of garbage balloons from North Korea; it was driven by personal motives unrelated to national security or defense," the court added. In December 2024, President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law in violation of the constitution, for which he was subsequently removed from power. In the summer and spring of 2024, balloons with garbage were launched from the territory of the DPRK in response to the actions of activists who sent medications with propaganda materials.

In February, the court of first instance sentenced Yoon Suk-yeol to life imprisonment for rebellion against the state system in connection with the events of the martial law.

Source: TASS