SEOUL, April 24, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - South Korean special prosecutors requested a further 30-year term on Friday for jailed ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol for allegedly sending military drones into North Korea in 2024. Yoon is accused of ordering the incursion to help create the pretext for his failed declaration of martial law that year, which resulted in his impeachment, removal from office and life imprisonment for insurrection. Special prosecutors said in a statement that they were seeking the new sentence on charges of aiding the enemy, adding that Yoon's effort to "fabricate wartime conditions" had undermined state security. They also argue that the operation heightened tensions with North Korea and led to the leak of classified information -- including details on force capabilities -- after the drones crashed, the Yonhap news agency reported. Yoon was sentenced to life in jail in February for leading an insurrection to "paralyse" South Korea's National Assembly. He has appealed the conviction tied to his martial law declaration, insisting he took the measure "solely for the sake of the nation". Drone flights have continued to be a flashpoint in recent tensions between North and South Korea, which remain technically at war. This month, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung expressed regret to Pyongyang after an investigation found that government officials had sent drones into the nuclear-armed North in January. The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later called Lee's statement "wise behaviour", but hopes for a rapprochement faded after the diplomatically isolated nation returned to calling the South its "most hostile" enemy. Lee has vowed to mend ties with North Korea by halting the kind of provocations carried out under his predecessor, and has suggested a rare apology may be warranted for Yoon's actions involving the drones.