Former President Yoon Suk-yeol was again asked to serve 30 years in prison at his appeals trial over charges that he sent drones into Pyongyang to create a pretext for declaring martial law on Dec. 3.
The special counsel team led by Cho Eun-suk sought 30-year prison terms for Yoon and former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun on the 16th at the final hearing on charges including aiding the enemy, held before the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 1 under presiding judge Yoon Sung-sik. Prosecutors sought 20 years for Yeo In-hyung, former commander of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, and five years for Kim Yong-dae, former commander of the Drone Operations Command, both of whom were indicted alongside them. All the requests matched those made at the first trial except for the former defense minister, who faced a 25-year request at the first trial but was sentenced to 30 years.
The special counsel said the crime was graver than insurrection because it was committed to manufacture grounds for declaring martial law. "This was a crime that abused the authority to command the armed forces and the power to issue military orders in order to create the pretext of wartime conditions for martial law, inducing armed provocation by North Korea and accepting the risk of at least a localized clash and at most all-out war," prosecutors said. They argued it was improper for the first-trial court to reduce Yeo's sentence on the grounds that he had participated passively, when he had served as a core planner by attending planning meetings. They also stressed that the suspended sentence given to Kim Yong-dae was excessively lenient relative to the offense.
Yoon was indicted on charges of escalating tensions with North Korea by sending drones into Pyongyang around October 2024, together with Kim Yong-hyun and others, to create a pretext for declaring martial law. Kim Yong-dae, who carried out the actual operation, faced charges including abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights, as well as incitement to destroy military property.
The first-trial court ruled that the operation was not a legitimate military action but an act of aiding the enemy intended to manufacture grounds for declaring martial law, convicting the defendants on most counts. It sentenced Yoon and Kim Yong-hyun to 30 years each, Yeo to 15 years, and Kim Yong-dae to three years in prison, suspended for five years.