South Korean investigators to ‘forcibly bring’ Yoon in for questioning
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South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has been refusing to appear for questioning since his arrest on Jan 15.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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SEOUL - Mr Oh Dong-woon, the chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), said on Jan 22 that his officials will attempt to force President Yoon Suk Yeol to comply with interrogation related to his Dec 3 martial law declaration and the subsequent orders.
Mr Oh said the CIO will once again attempt to force Mr Yoon to comply with a summons. The impeached President has been refusing to appear for questioning
Mr Yoon was questioned by the CIO on the day of his arrest, but stayed silent during an interrogation that lasted over than 10 hours.
“President Yoon must respect the decision of the court... (Yoon) is refusing the summons, so we have no choice but to forcibly bring him in,” Mr Oh told reporters at the government complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi province, while on his way to the CIO headquarters.
“If (Mr Yoon’s side) has objections, they can appeal within the boundaries of the law.”
Mr Yoon is under criminal investigation and facing an impeachment trial for what are believed to be illegal orders to high-ranking military and police officials. The alleged orders include preventing the National Assembly from gathering and the arrest of prominent political figures, including leaders of both ruling and main opposition parties, and Parliamentary Speaker Woo Won-shik.
Mr Yoon appeared at the hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court on Jan 21, and denied giving such arrest orders. He said the martial law command deploying troops to the National Assembly was not meant to obstruct the parliamentary vote to lift the law.
He claimed he never intended to carry out the martial law decree, saying it was “merely a formal procedure”, the purpose of which was to appeal to the people.
The next hearing of the ongoing impeachment trial will be on Jan 23, with testimony from Mr Kim Yong-hyun, Mr Yoon’s longtime confidant, who was defence minister at the time of the martial law.
Mr Kim has been placed under arrest and is being investigated for his part in the alleged insurrection
The hearing scheduled for Feb 4 will feature testimonies of Capital Defence Command chief Lee Jin-woo and Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyeong, suspected followers of Mr Yoon’s alleged insurrection. Both of them have been placed under arrest.
Mr Hong Jang-won, who has resigned as first deputy director of the National Intelligence Agency, is also slated to make an appearance at the February hearing. He was the first to reveal that Mr Yoon had ordered the arrest of major political figures, in an interview with a lawmaker. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
