S Korean prosecutors seek 30-year jail term for ex-president Yoon in drone case

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - SEOUL — South Korean prosecutors sought ‌on Friday a further 30-year jail term for former President Yoon Suk Yeol for allegedly ordering a drone operation over Pyongyang in 2024, Yonhap news agency said.

Yoon is accused of ordering the incursion to help create the pretext for his failed declaration of martial law that year, which resulted in his impeachment, removal from office and life imprisonment for insurrection.

The Seoul Central District Court is ⁠expected to rule on the case at a later date.

The trial is one of eight Yoon is currently involved in after he was ousted last year following his brief declaration of martial law, which sent shockwaves through a country long viewed as one of Asia's most resilient democracies.

Special prosecutors said in a statement that they were seeking the new sentence on charges of aiding the enemy, adding that Yoon’s effort to “fabricate wartime conditions” had undermined state security.

They said the drone operation ‌heightened ⁠military tensions with North Korea and, after a drone crashed, risked exposing sensitive military information related to the mission and South Korea's capabilities.

Yoon denied the charges against him, saying ⁠he had not taken any action that could trigger a military clash with North Korea, according to his lawyers.

The former ⁠president was indicted in November last year on charges that included benefiting the enemy, which can apply ⁠even without direct collusion with an enemy if South Korea's military interests are harmed or an adversary is aided.

Yoon was sentenced to life in jail in February for leading an insurrection to “paralyze” South Korea’s National Assembly.

He has appealed the conviction tied to his martial law declaration, insisting he took the measure “solely for the sake of the nation.”