Former President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks with his lawyer while appearing for the reading of the verdict in his treason trial at the Seoul Central District Court on June 12, 2026. (Yonhap)
For the first time in Korea’s modern history, a former president has been found guilty of treason by harming the country’s military interests. Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced to 30 years in prison for ordering unmanned drones to be sent to Pyongyang to create a pretext for declaring martial law. This is in addition to the life sentence he is serving for leading the 2024 insurrection. It is only fitting that a president who has abdicated their primary responsibility to protect the existence and safety of their country and betrayed the public’s trust be given a heavy sentence. On Friday, Seoul Central District Court rejected Yoon’s defense that operations in October and November 2024, in which unmanned drones were flown over Pyongyang and dropped propaganda leaflets, were part of a “military operation to combat North Korea’s trash-filled balloons,” convicting him and his accomplices of treason and abuse of power. The court found that Yoon and his defense minister at the time, Kim Yong-hyun, believed that to “justify a martial law declaration, the country needed to be plunged in a state of emergency or something adjacent to such a state,” which led them to “provoke North Korea to deliberately create a state of emergency.”The court found that the defendants employed drone incursions as a form of psychological warfare in an attempt to provoke an armed response from North Korea and trigger a localized conflict. Based on those findings, the court sentenced Yoon to 30 years in prison, matching the term sought by special counsel Cho Eun-seok. Kim Yong-hyun, who faced the same charges, was also given a 30-year sentence — five years longer than prosecutors had requested — while Yeo In-hyeong, the former commander of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, was sentenced to 15 years. Kim Yong-dae, who was head of the Drone Operations Command during the plot, stood trial on charges of abuse of power and instigation of destruction of military property for leading the operations. He received three years with a five-year stay of execution. The court designated Yoon, who had the final say in authorizing the drone scheme, as a joint principal offender, while labeling Kim Yong-hyun, who planned and gave orders for the operation, as its ringleader. This reckless provocation instigated by the country’s commander-in-chief and military leadership was more than a thought experiment — it actively harmed South Korea’s military interests. The operation revealed sensitive information about South Korea's drone assets and military capabilities to North Korea. That’s not to mention that the South Korean public and military were placed in needless danger as a military operation was carried out for selfish purposes. The court made it clear that although North Korea did not respond in kind with provocations, that “cannot be considered a mitigating factor in sentencing the defendants.” Yoon, Kim Yong-hyun, and Yeo were also found guilty of abusing their authority to obstruct the exercise of others’ rights. “The defendants betrayed their duty as members of the country’s armed forces, which is stipulated in the Constitution. It was not the duty of soldiers to heed such orders,” the court said, condemning the defendants for abusing their authority to force soldiers into carrying out acts that were not part of their duties. As the commander-in-chief of the South Korean military who can also issue emergency orders and declare martial law, it is incumbent upon the president to use that authority solely to protect the independence of the country, defend its territory, uphold the Constitution, and maintain public order. The fact that the court has successively handed such heavy sentences to Yoon demonstrates what happens to foolish leaders who wrongly believed that the authority entrusted to him as president could be privately abused.We hope this ruling stands as a reminder that any attempt to exploit the military and abuse state power for personal interests will not be condoned, and serves as a safeguard against the rise of any administration willing to engage in such conduct.Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
