A South Korean special counsel team has requested a 30-year prison sentence for ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol for allegedly ordering military drones over Pyongyang in 2024. The team, led by special counsel Cho Eun-suk, also urged a 25-year prison term for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun on the same charges. The alleged drone dispatch in October 2024 was believed to provoke North Korea’s response, potentially linked to Yoon’s failed martial law attempt two months later.
The special counsel team accused Yoon and Kim of harming national security by inciting inter-Korean tensions and leaking military secrets. They claimed that the drone incident led to increased tensions between the two Koreas, with one drone crashing in North Korea. The trial hearing on Friday was held privately due to national security reasons.
Earlier, the team had sought a 20-year sentence for Yeo In-hyung, former head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, and a five-year term for Kim Yong-dae, former chief of the Drone Operations Command, for their alleged involvement in the drone dispatch. Yoon, currently in custody, faces multiple trials related to the failed martial law bid in December 2024. In a separate case in February, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the insurrection.
