Former President Yoon Suk-yeol arrives for questioning over charges related to the December 3, 2024 martial law imposition at the special prosecutor's office in Seoul, South Korea, June 28, 2025. (Photo: VCG)
The Republic of Korea's (ROK) special counsel on Friday sought a 30-year sentence for former President Yoon Suk-yeol over general treason linked to the infiltration of drones into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The team of Cho Eun-suk, an independent counsel who led investigations into Yoon's insurrection and other charges, demanded a prison term for general treason, which refers to harming the ROK's military interests or benefiting the enemy.
Yoon was accused of ordering the drone infiltration into Pyongyang around October 2024 with the intent of militarily provoking the DPRK in a bid to create a pretext for his martial law declaration in December of the same year.
The special prosecutor team believed that the drone operation heightened military tensions between the two Koreas and compromised the ROK's military interests, as the drone crash led to the leak of classified information about military operations and assets.
The team requested a 25-year prison sentence for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.
Yoon and Kim were indicted on charges of general treason in November 2025 along with a former counterintelligence commander.
The emergency martial law was declared by Yoon on the night of December 3, 2024, but it was revoked hours later by the National Assembly.
He was indicted under detention in January 2025 as a suspected ringleader of the insurrection, becoming the first sitting president to be arrested and indicted.