In Second Trial Over Pyongyang Drone Incident, Special Prosecutor Seeks 30-Year Sentence for Former President Yoon Suk Yeol

Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok's insurrection investigation team on Monday sought the same 30-year prison term as in the first trial for former President Yoon Suk Yeol at the closing hearing of his appeal trial on general mutiny charges over the 'Pyongyang drone deployment operation,' held at the Seoul High Court. At the closing hearing that day, the special prosecution team also recommended a 30-year sentence for former President Yoon. The requested sentence for the former president was the same as that sought and imposed in the first trial.

At the appeal closing hearing held Monday before the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Yoon Sung-sik), the special prosecution team recommended a 30-year prison term for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun. It sought 20 years for former Defense Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung and 5 years for former Drone Operations Commander Kim Yong-dae, who were indicted alongside them.

The special prosecutor also directly took issue with the first-trial verdict. It argued that it was unjust for the lower court to reduce the sentence of former Commander Yeo on grounds of passive participation, despite his being a key planner who attended every simulated meeting and devised and proposed the conditions to enable martial law through memos. The special prosecutor stated, "The suspended sentence given to Kim Yong-dae in the first trial is excessively lenient for someone who systematically mobilized subordinate soldiers to cover up and manipulate a serious crime, yet denies committing it."

Final arguments and closing statements from former President Yoon and former Minister Kim's side are scheduled for the afternoon session of the hearing.