South Korea jails ex-president Yoon for 30 years over Pyongyang drone flights: a plot to manufacture war, or political payback?
A Seoul court sentenced ousted former president Yoon Suk Yeol and his ex-defense minister Kim Yong Hyun to 30 years in prison on June 12, finding them guilty of 'aiding an adversary' and abuse of power over secret 2024 drone flights into North Korea. Prosecutors say Yoon deliberately tried to provoke a North Korean attack to justify imposing martial law at home; Yoon's lawyers say the flights were a legitimate response to North Korean provocations and that the conviction itself harms South Korea's security. Yoon is already serving a life term in a separate rebellion case.
The summary above is a neutral framing. Below, each side reports the same story in its own words — judge for yourself.
The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon and his defense minister guilty of aiding an adversary and abusing power, saying they sought to provoke North Korea into armed provocations to 'manufacture a national emergency' and justify martial law — moves the court said exposed South Korea's military capabilities and harmed its security. Special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk had sought 30 years, accusing Yoon of trying to create a warlike situation while plotting an authoritarian push to remove opponents and 'monopolize' power.
Yoon's lawyers criticized the ruling, saying the drone flights were a response to North Korea floating thousands of trash-carrying balloons into the South earlier in 2024, not a plot to start a war. They argued that a guilty verdict would itself undermine South Korea's security interests by penalizing a defensive military decision, and did not immediately say whether they would appeal. Yoon's camp casts the cascade of prosecutions against him as politically driven.
