Seoul prosecutors yesterday requested a 30-year prison term for former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol over allegations that he deliberately tried to escalate tensions with North Korea in 2024 by ordering drone flights over Pyongyang as he sought to create justifiable conditions for martial law at home.
Yoon is charged with benefiting an adversary and abusing his powers, which are among a long list of indictments against the former leader over his short-lived imposition of martial law in South Korea in December 2024.
The request came in the closing stages of a trial at the Seoul Central District Court, where a team of investigators led by special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk said that Yoon and his top defense officials were responsible for alleged drone infiltrations into North Korea, about two months before he imposed martial law while portraying opposition politicians as North Korea-sympathizing, “anti-state” forces.
Photo: EPA
Yoon’s lawyers, who had denied the accusations, did not immediately comment on the prosecution’s requested prison term.
In February, the court sentenced Yoon to life in prison after finding him guilty of the more serious rebellion charge. That verdict was appealed by Yoon and prosecutors, who had sought a death sentence.
Cho’s team in a statement yesterday said that Yoon tried to create a warlike situation between the Koreas while plotting an authoritarian push to remove his political opponents, and “monopolize and extend his power.”
Prosecutors are seeking a 25-year prison term for Yoon’s former defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, a key confidant who helped plan and mobilize forces for the martial law declaration.
North Korea accused Seoul of flying drones over its capital, Pyongyang, to drop propaganda leaflets three times in October 2024.
Kim initially made a vague denial, but the South Korean Ministry of Defense later switched to saying it could not confirm whether the claims were true.
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