Former South Korean President Yoon jailed for 30 years

South Korea’s former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison by a Seoul court for authorising drone incursions into North Korea, a move prosecutors said was intended to provoke tensions and justify his controversial declaration of martial law in 2024.

The Seoul Central District Court delivered the verdict on Friday, marking another major legal setback for the former leader.

The latest sentence comes months after Yoon was handed a life prison term in February for leading what prosecutors described as an insurrection aimed at paralysing the National Assembly through the imposition of martial law.

In April, special prosecutors said Yoon’s effort to “fabricate wartime conditions” with the drones had undermined state security.

According to the prosecutors, the operation heightened tensions with North Korea and led to the leak of classified information – including details about force capabilities – after the drones crashed, Yonhap news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the ex-president has appealed against the insurrection conviction, insisting that he declared martial law “solely for the sake of the nation”.

His legal team denied the charge involving the drones, saying there was “no prior order or subsequent approval” by him for the drone operation cited by prosecutors.

They also argued that the operation was a response to North Korea sending balloons carrying trash across the border that year and was “a legitimate act of self-defence” unrelated to Yoon’s martial law declaration.

The lawyers dismissed the prosecution’s claims as a “speculative and false novel”.