A Seoul court on Friday, June 12, 2026, sentenced former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison after finding him guilty over a military drone operation linked to his failed 2024 bid to impose martial law.
The court ruled that Yoon authorized drone incursions into North Korea in October 2024, describing the operation as a deliberate action that significantly heightened military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Prosecutors argued the move was intended to provoke a security crisis that could be used to justify the declaration of emergency rule.
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Judges said the operation formed part of a wider sequence of events connected to Yoon’s controversial December 2024 martial law declaration attempt, which collapsed after swift parliamentary opposition and widespread public resistance.
In its judgment, the court held that the former president abused state power and acted in a way that endangered national security, making the drone operation a key aggravating factor in the case.
The ruling represents one of the most severe sentences handed down against a former South Korean head of state in recent years, deepening the political and legal fallout from the failed 2024 martial law bid.