The Daily Populous Friday June 12nd, 2026 evening edition
Authored by scmp.com and submitted by scmp_news

South Korean court sentenced ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol to 30 years in prison on Friday for sending military drones into North Korea, saying he planned the action as pretext for his disastrous martial law declaration in 2024.

The drone flights two months before Yoon suspended civilian rule had sparked anger in North Korea , which accused the South of dropping propaganda leaflets as well.

Judges said Yoon intended to provoke Pyongyang “into carrying out armed or equivalent acts against South Korea’s military of people”, according to a summary of their ruling.

Yoon planned to “heighten inter-Korean military tensions and manufacture a national crisis” so his martial law could have been justified, they added.

The former president was given 30 years in jail over the drone incursion, the Seoul Central District Court said on Friday.

Ragnarawr on June 12nd, 2026 at 05:02 UTC »

He sent drones into North Korea to build a pretext to declare martial law and seize power, the short version is.

Life_Without_Lemon on June 12nd, 2026 at 03:18 UTC »

It’s incredible how this guy was once the top dog. Had everything and could live out rest of his life in luxury. Now he’s probably going to spend the rest of his life in jail and won’t go down in history kindly.

scmp_news on June 12nd, 2026 at 02:38 UTC »

Yoon is already serving a life sentence for insurrection over his short-lived martial law decree that plunged the country into its most serious constitutional crisis in decades.

Read more: https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3356833/south-korean-court-sentences-ex-president-yoon-30-years-over-pyongyang-drone-plot?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=Social