South Korea's Ex-President Faces 30 Years Over Drone Plot

South Korea's ousted former president now knows what sentence prosecutors want to see on his record: three decades behind bars, reports Reuters. A Seoul court on Friday heard prosecutors request a 30-year prison term for Yoon Suk Yeol over allegations he ordered a drone mission over Pyongyang to help justify his brief 2024 declaration of martial law, Yonhap reports. Prosecutors said that Yoon sent the drones over the border two months before he declared martial law as part of an effort to oust his political rivals, stoke tensions with North Korea, and "monopolize and extend his power," reports the Washington Post. Yoon's former defense minister, Kim Yong Hyun, is facing up to 25 years behind bars for his role.

The case is one of eight Yoon is fighting after being removed from office last year in a political jolt to one of Asia's most established democracies. Prosecutors say the drone operation ratcheted up tensions with North Korea and, after one drone went down, risked exposing sensitive information about South Korea's military capabilities. Yoon, indicted in November on charges that include "benefiting the enemy," has denied any wrongdoing, with his lawyers arguing he did nothing that could have sparked an armed conflict with the North.