Seoul: A special counsel team announced on Friday that it has summoned former President Yoon Suk Yeol to appear for questioning next Monday, as part of an ongoing investigation into his alleged attempt to impose martial law.
According to Yonhap News Agency, assistant special counsel Park Ji-young disclosed during a press briefing that Yoon has been notified through his attorney to appear for questioning at 2 p.m. next Monday. Yoon, who is currently held at the Seoul Detention Center following his arrest on Thursday, had initially been scheduled for questioning on Friday afternoon but did not attend. He cited health issues in a written explanation for his absence to special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team.
Despite Yoon's claims of health concerns, Park stated that the special counsel team verified with officials at the correctional facility that he does not have any health issues significant enough to prevent him from attending the questioning session. Park suggested that should Yoon fail to appear again, the special counsel might resort to compelling his attendance through legal measures in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code.
Yoon was apprehended on Thursday after a court issued an arrest warrant based on five significant charges. These charges include allegedly violating the rights of Cabinet members by selectively calling them to a meeting before declaring martial law on December 3. Additionally, Cho's team accused Yoon of fabricating a false martial law declaration document post-December 3 to legitimize his actions, securing signatures from then Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and then Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun before disposing of it.
Further allegations involve Yoon instructing the presidential spokesperson for foreign press to issue false statements following the martial law attempt. He is also accused of directing the Presidential Security Service (PSS) to obstruct his detention by investigators in early January and ordering the deletion of call records from secure phones used by three military commanders.
This marks the second arrest for Yoon. His first arrest occurred in January while he was still in office, but a court later accepted his request to cancel the arrest, leading to his release in March.