South Korean prosecutors seek 30 years for Yoon over drone plot

by · UPI

SEOUL, April 24 (UPI) -- South Korean prosecutors on Friday sought a 30-year prison sentence for jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol, alleging he ordered military drones to infiltrate North Korea in a bid to provoke tensions ahead of his short-lived martial law declaration in 2024.

A special counsel team led by Cho Eun-suk said Yoon and senior defense officials orchestrated the drone incursions through military command channels to trigger a North Korean response and create a security crisis as justification for emergency rule.

The team charged Yoon, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former Defense Counterintelligence Command chief Yeo In-hyung with offenses including aiding an enemy state and abuse of power.

In a statement reported by Yonhap News Agency, the special prosecutor's office said Yoon "attempted to create a wartime situation on the Korean Peninsula for the purpose of establishing the conditions for declaring a state of emergency."

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"Their crimes resulted in a severe undermining of the nation's military interests, including actual threats to national security," prosecutors added.

Prosecutors also requested a 25-year sentence for Kim on the same charges. The court did not immediately set a date for a verdict.

Yoon was sentenced to life imprisonment in February on insurrection charges tied to his brief imposition of martial law. His legal team has appealed the ruling, while prosecutors -- who had sought the death penalty -- have also filed an appeal.

The former president declared emergency rule late on Dec. 3, 2024, citing threats from what he described as "shameless pro-North Korea anti-state forces."

Lawmakers rushed to the National Assembly in the early hours and voted to overturn the decree, forcing Yoon to rescind it during a subsequent Cabinet meeting.

The episode lasted roughly six hours but triggered months of political upheaval and deepened divisions across South Korea. Yoon was removed from office in April after the Constitutional Court unanimously upheld his impeachment.

North Korea accused Seoul in October 2024 of flying drones carrying propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang on three occasions, calling the incursions a "serious provocation." The North responded by destroying sections of inter-Korean roads and claimed that roughly 1.4 million people had volunteered for military service, portraying it as a mass outpouring of anger.

South Korea's military at the time said it could not confirm the North's claims, stopping short of an outright denial.

Drone-related tensions have resurfaced in recent months following a series of incursions by civilian-operated drones, which drew a sharp protest from Pyongyang.

Earlier this month, President Lee Jae Myung expressed regret over the incidents, prompting a rare conciliatory response from Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who described Lee as "frank and broad-minded," though Pyongyang quickly reverted to its hardline stance.

Lee's administration has sought to ease tensions with Pyongyang, including dismantling border propaganda loudspeakers and calling for renewed dialogue. The North has rejected such overtures, declaring the South its "most hostile state" while continuing weapons tests.