S Korea's ex-president gets 30 years over drone incident

SEOUL

A South Korean court sentenced ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison on June 12 for sending military drones into North Korea, saying he planned the action as pretext for his disastrous martial law declaration in 2024.

The drone flights two months before Yoon suspended civilian rule, had sparked anger in Pyongyang, which accused the South of dropping propaganda leaflets as well.

Judges said Yoon intended to provoke Pyongyang "into carrying out armed or equivalent acts against South Korea's military of people", according to a summary of their ruling.

Yoon planned to "heighten inter-Korean military tensions and manufacture a national crisis" so his martial law could have been justified, they added.

Yoon is in detention while he appeals a life sentence for leading an insurrection with his martial law declaration.

He insists that he declared martial law "solely for the sake of the nation."

His defence has also denied the charge over the drones, arguing that operation was in response to North Korea sending balloons carrying trash across the border that year.

Yoon's shock late-night national televised address in December 2024 that suspended civilian rule plunged South Korea into an unprecedented political crisis.

Martial law lasted only about six hours as lawmakers raced to the assembly building and voted it down in an emergency session.

However, it triggered protests, sent the stock market plunging and caught key allies like the United States off-guard.

Yoon is facing multiple legal cases, and Lee Jae Myung was elected president after months of political chaos in the country.