SOUTH KOREA’S ousted president Yoon Suk Yeol and his former defence minister Kim Yong Hyun were sentenced to 30 years in prison on Friday.

Mr Yoon was found to have ordered drone flights over Pyongyang in 2024 to heighten tensions with North Korea and justify declaring martial law at home.

The Seoul Central District Court found Mr Yoon and Mr Hyun guilty of aiding an adversary and abusing their power, saying they sought to provoke North Korea into launching armed attacks or other serious provocations, to manufacture a national emergency. 

The same court had previously sentenced Mr Yoon to life in prison for a rebellion conviction over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024.

Mr Yoon’s lawyers slammed the latest ruling, saying the drone flights were a response to North Korea flying thousands of refuse-carrying balloons into the South earlier in 2024. 

They did not immediately say whether they would appeal.

Mr Yoon declared martial law on December 3, 2024. The measure lasted about six hours until lawmakers overturned it, forcing Mr Yoon’s Cabinet to back down.

Mr Yoon was quickly suspended from office, impeached and formally removed by the Constitutional Court. He was arrested in July 2025 and several criminal trials are ongoing.