Seoul: A special counsel team announced Thursday it will execute a detention warrant for jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol this week. The move aims to forcibly bring him in for questioning regarding allegations of misconduct.
According to Yonhap News Agency, special counsel Min Joong-ki's team plans to deploy an assistant special counsel, a prosecutor, and an investigator to the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang at 9 a.m. Friday. This development follows the Seoul Central District Court's issuance of a detention warrant for Yoon. The former president, currently under arrest for his failed attempt to impose martial law in December, has defied two summonses to appear for questioning this week.
Min's team is investigating allegations that Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, meddled in nominating candidates for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections through a self-proclaimed power broker, Myung Tae-kyun. Yoon's lawyers claim the former president is unable to comply with the summonses due to his deteriorating health. Following the announcement of the plan to detain Yoon, his lawyers submitted his medical records, along with a doctor's note and diagnosis, to the detention center.
In a statement, Yoon's legal team explained that the former president underwent a limited medical examination at the detention center. He is scheduled to receive an eye procedure next month due to the risk of going blind. This is the second time a detention warrant has been issued for Yoon. In January, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials detained him at the official presidential residence under a court-issued warrant and transferred him to the same detention center, where he was held until his release in March. At that time, he was arrested on charges of leading an insurrection through his martial law attempt.
Despite the possibility of being forcibly brought to the interrogation room, there is skepticism about Yoon's compliance with the questioning. He and his wife are suspected of receiving free opinion polls from Myung ahead of the 2022 presidential election in exchange for securing the nomination of former People Power Party Rep. Kim Young-sun for a parliamentary by-election later that year. Min's team is also investigating whether Yoon violated election law by making false statements about his wife's suspected involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme during the presidential primaries in 2021. The team has been tasked with investigating 19 criminal allegations against the former first lady.