▲ Former President Yoon Suk Yeol is seen in this file photo. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

unification ministry-drone case

Unification ministry pledges peace after Yoon convicted in N. Korea drone case

SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- The unification ministry vowed Friday to firmly establish peace on the Korean Peninsula after a Seoul court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison for ordering drone flights into North Korea to provoke it and lay the groundwork for his martial law bid in 2024.

Earlier in the day, the Seoul Central District Court found the jailed former president guilty of aiding the enemy and abuse of power, ruling that he had ordered covert drone missions in October 2024 in a bid to provoke Pyongyang and use the anticipated backlash as pretext for his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law.

"This is unacceptable that the former president discarded his responsibility to protect national security and the safety of the people and attempted to drive the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry pledged to "prevent a repeat of such a tragedy," pursue a North Korea policy grounded in what it called "popular sovereignty" and "to firmly establish peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula."

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