Prosecutors Seek 30-Year Term for Ex-President Yoon on Drone Charges

South Korean prosecutors on Friday requested a 30-year prison sentence for former President Yoon Suk Yeol, accusing him of ordering drone flights over Pyongyang in October 2024 to provoke North Korea and create a pretext for his short-lived declaration of martial law two months later.

The request came during closing arguments in a trial at the Seoul Central District Court, where special prosecutor Cho Eunsuk's team charged Yoon with benefiting an adversary and abusing his authority. Prosecutors alleged that Yoon, as commander in chief, directed the operation through top defense officials to escalate military tensions between the two Koreas. They claimed the flights, which North Korea said involved dropping propaganda leaflets over its capital three times that month, risked exposing sensitive military information when one drone crashed, harming South Korea's national security interests.

Yoon's lawyers denied the accusations and stated that the former president had not taken any actions that could trigger a military clash with North Korea. They did not immediately comment on the proposed sentence.

The case is one of several facing Yoon following his ouster last year. In December...