Special prosecutor seeks 30 years in prison in second trial for 'Pyongyang drone'... “The crime is heavier than civil war” (comprehensive)

In the second trial of former President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was indicted on general transfer charges related to the 'Pyongyang drone insertion operation', Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok requested that he be sentenced to three years in prison, the same as in the first trial.

The special prosecution team sentenced former President Yoon, former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, and others to 30 years in prison each on charges of general transfer, held on the 16th at the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Seong-sik Yoon).

Yeo Yeo-hyeong, former commander of the Armed Forces Counterintelligence Command, who was also indicted, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and former drone operation commander Kim Yong-dae was sentenced to five years in prison.

Former President Yoon's appeal sentence is the same as the first trial sentence. Former Minister Kim was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the first trial, but was sentenced to a heavier prison sentence of 30 years.

The special prosecutor's team said, "The crime in this case is that the Commander-in-Chief of the ROK Armed Forces, the Minister of National Defense, and the Commander of Counterintelligence Command abused their military commander-in-chief and military command authority to induce North Korea's armed provocation and risked at least a local war and up to an all-out war in order to create a justification for emergency martial law in a wartime situation," and criticized the crime, saying, "The crime is more serious than a civil war."

Regarding the first trial ruling, they argued, "It is unfair for the original trial to reduce the prison sentence on the grounds of 'passive participation' even though Yeo In-hyung was a key planner who attended all mock meetings and planned and suggested the creation of martial law requirements through memos," and added, "The first trial's suspended sentence is overly lenient on Kim Yong-dae, who denied the crime despite systematically mobilizing subordinate soldiers to cover up and manipulate a serious crime."

In the afternoon trial, the final arguments and final statements of former President Yoon and former Minister Kim are scheduled.

Former President Yoon, former Minister Kim, and others are suspected of ordering the Drone Operation Command to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles in Pyongyang around October 2024 to create the requirements for declaring martial law.

There was also a charge of abusing his authority in the process of directing operations and forcing soldiers to do work that was not their duty (abuse of authority).

The first trial found former President Yoon and former Minister Kim guilty of most of the charges and sentenced them to heavy sentences.

Former commander Yeo Yeo-hyeong, who shared the operation and advised on the period of martial law, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and former commander Kim Yong-dae, who led the actual operation, was sentenced to three years in prison and five years of probation.