South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol again snubs summons for insurrection probe

SEOUL - President Yoon Suk Yeol on Dec 25 again failed to appear for questioning as requested by the investigation team handling his insurrection charge concerning his Dec 3 declaration of martial law.

The President did not arrive at the headquarters of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials – an independent investigative body targeting corruption accusations by top-level government officials – at the ordered time of 10am (9am Singapore time).

The office said it will wait for the President for the remainder of the day, and would decide as early as Dec 26 whether to summon Mr Yoon again or request an arrest warrant for him.

He had already refused to comply with the

Dec 18 summons

for questioning and was widely expected to snub the orders again on Dec 25.

Mr Seok Dong-hyeon, who is Mr Yoon’s lawyer and long-time confidant, said on Dec 24 that his client’s priority is the Constitutional Court proceedings on his impeachment.

He said it was “unlikely” that Mr Yoon would attend the questioning by the investigators on Christmas Day.

Mr Yoon is currently under

criminal investigation for insurrection

and abuse of power, and his

impeachment motion was passed by the National Assembly on Dec 14

.

The President has not complied with either process, as he also refused to accept the legal documents sent by the Constitutional Court related to his impeachment trial.

Mr Yoon has stayed mostly out of the public eye since his

botched martial law declaration on Dec 3

, during which he is suspected of giving several potentially illegal orders.

He has been staying at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, Seoul, and reports claim he has not fully formed a legal team to represent him in the criminal investigation. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK