Former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after a Seoul court found him guilty of ordering drone infiltrations into North Korea in an attempt to raise cross-border tensions and create a justification for his declaration of martial law in December 2024.

According to the Yonhap News Agency, the Seoul Central District Court convicted the jailed former president of benefiting the enemy and abuse of power. The sentence matched the recommendation made by special counsel Cho Eun-suk.

The court found that Yoon ordered the operation in October 2024 with the aim of provoking Pyongyang and using the resulting tensions as a pretext for his declaration of martial law on December 3.

Hours after the ruling, Yoon’s legal team filed an appeal.

The court also sentenced former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun to 30 years in prison for his role in the operation, exceeding the 25-year term sought by the special counsel.

Yeo In-hyung, the former head of the Defence Counterintelligence Command, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his involvement. Kim Yong-dae, the former chief of the Drone Operations Command, received a three-year prison term suspended for five years.

In its ruling, the court said the defendants had sought to create conditions for martial law by using psychological warfare tactics to provoke North Korea and induce a response.

The court said that the actions amounted to a betrayal of public trust in the president and defence minister to use military force only for legitimate purposes. It also said the operation had been driven by personal motives.

Meanwhile, Yoon’s lawyers argued that the drone deployment was a legitimate military operation carried out in response to North Korea’s launch of rubbish-carrying balloons into South Korea during 2024.