SEOUL — South Korea’s former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his ex-defense minister Kim Yong Hyun were sentenced to 30 years in prison on Friday in connection with controversial drone flights over Pyongyang in 2024, a move prosecutors and courts say was intended to escalate tensions with North Korea and justify imposing martial law domestically.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Yoon and Kim were guilty of aiding an adversary and abusing their power, concluding that the drone operations aimed to provoke North Korea into launching armed attacks or other serious retaliatory actions against South Korea. The court determined that these actions endangered South Korea’s military interests by revealing capabilities, damaging its ability to carry out future operations, and prompting North Korea to bolster its defense posture.

The drone flights in question took place three times in October 2024, with North Korea accusing Seoul of sending unmanned aerial vehicles over its capital to distribute propaganda leaflets. Kim, who served as defense minister at the time, initially offered a vague denial, and the South Korean Defense Ministry later stated it could neither confirm nor deny the allegations. Although the flights heightened tensions between the Koreas, they did not result in armed conflict.

Yoon’s legal team criticized the court’s decision, asserting that the drone missions were retaliatory responses to North Korea’s earlier deployment of thousands of trash-carrying balloons into South Korean territory. They argued that convicting Yoon over the drone flights undermines South Korea’s strategic security interests.

Special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk had pursued a 30-year sentence for Yoon, accusing him of intentionally fostering a warlike environment between the two Koreas as part of an authoritarian effort to eliminate political opposition and consolidate power. Kim, a close ally of Yoon who assisted in organizing forces to enforce martial law, faced a recommended 25-year sentence.

The martial law declaration, which lasted roughly six hours on December 3, 2024, was a defining episode in the case. Yoon ordered the measure late at night and addressed the nation, denouncing liberal lawmakers as “anti-state” elements sympathetic to North Korea. He cited multiple grievances, including opposition-led impeachments of senior officials and legislative cuts to his administration’s budget proposals. The National Assembly effectively ended the martial law order by breaching security blockades and passing a vote to overturn it, compelling Yoon’s Cabinet to rescind the declaration.

Following these events, Yoon was swiftly impeached, suspended, and ultimately removed from office by the Constitutional Court. He was arrested in July 2025, and several criminal trials remain ongoing. Earlier, the same court sentenced him to life imprisonment on a rebellion charge related to the martial law episode. Both Yoon and prosecutors have appealed that ruling, with prosecutors having sought the death penalty.