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From left: Former President Yoon Suk-yeol, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, and former Defense Counterintelligence Command Commander Yeo In-hyung. / Yonhap News

Former President Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced to 30 years in prison for ordering a drone infiltration into Pyongyang to create a pretext for declaring emergency martial law on December 3.

The Seoul Central District Court on the 12th sentenced Yoon to 30 years in prison after finding him guilty of general treason and abuse of power to obstruct the exercise of rights.

Co-defendants former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former Defense Counterintelligence Command Commander Yeo In-hyung were sentenced to 30 years and 15 years in prison, respectively. Former Army Drone Operation Commander Kim Yong-dae, who oversaw the execution of the operation, received a three-year prison sentence, suspended for five years.

Yoon received the exact sentence of 30 years requested by Cho Eun-seok’s special treason investigation team, while Kim received a heavier sentence than the 25 years demanded by prosecutors.

During the closing arguments, the special investigation team noted, "The commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the defense minister, and the counterintelligence commander—who are responsible for the lives and safety of the people—attempted to orchestrate a wartime environment on the Korean Peninsula. Their goal was to engineer conditions for declaring emergency martial law, using it as a tool to eliminate political opposition and monopolize and retain power," labeling the act as an "anti-state and anti-people crime."

The court found Yoon and his co-defendants guilty of ordering the Drone Operation Command to infiltrate Pyongyang with drones in October 2024 to manufacture a pretext for declaring martial law.

The court ruled, "The defendants utilized the guise of a military operation to induce North Korean provocations with the intent to engineer a martial law crisis," adding, "They abused their authority during the command process, thereby obstructing officials from exercising their rights."

The court further stated, "They betrayed the fundamental expectation of the public that the president and minister would deploy military operations solely for legitimate purposes, such as national defense," emphasizing that "this cannot be treated lightly."

Following the verdict, Yoon’s legal team announced plans to appeal, stating, "If the judiciary concocts far-fetched logic to frame this as treason and treasonous collusion in this manner, it will inevitably face judgment from future generations."

                                                                                                           Park Se-young