Special counsel likely to mull forcing Yoon to comply with summons
The measure is expected as the former president snubbed two consecutive summons made by the special counsel team — led by Cho Eun-suk — without a legitimate reason.
On July 11, the Assistant Special Counsel Park Ji-young previously announced, 'If the absence is deemed justifiable, it may be accepted. But if not, the special counsel team will carry out the investigation procedure in line with the Criminal Procedure Act,' suggesting the team will consider sending personnel to bring Yoon in by force if he continues to refuse to comply with the investigation.
The special counsel team requested Yoon, who has been held at the Seoul Detention Center over evidence-tampering concerns since July 10, to appear at the special counsel's office for questioning at 2 p.m. Monday. The former president snubbed the initial summons for the special counsel investigation after submitting a written statement saying his absence was health-related.
Yoon's legal representatives argued that Yoon suffered from both diabetes and eye diseases, and that the poor conditions at the detention center, including extreme heat and restrictions on outdoor exercise, had led to his health deteriorating.
But the Justice Ministry disputed the claims of mistreatment, explaining that Yoon's workout time and room temperature were no different from those of ordinary inmates.
According to the special counsel team, it has asked the detained former president to appear for questioning as no specific health issues have been identified by the correctional authorities during Yoon's initial medical examination upon admission and throughout his five-day detention period.
Yoon had also refused to appear for the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials' investigation during his first detention period from mid-January to early March, arguing that the agency did not have jurisdiction to interrogate him.
The former president's unwillingness to cooperate with the CIO's questioning led the prosecutor to indict him without questioning him in late January.
Though the special counsel team has the option of trying to question Yoon at the detention center, the legal circle believes a forced summons is more likely, as the special counsel has maintained a swift and aggressive approach against Yoon since it officially began its work in mid-June.
Former President Park Geun-hye was questioned through an in-person visit at the Seoul Detention Center in 2017. The special counsel team also made multiple attempts to investigate the former President Lee Myung-bak, but the interrogation was not conducted due to his repeated refusals to cooperate.
Though additional questioning was not made, Lee was indicted with detention in 2018.
Meanwhile, the special counsel summoned Park Jong-joon, former head of the Presidential Security Service, and the PSS' head of security and safety Lee Jin-ha, to look into allegations that Yoon instructed the PSS to plock police and the CIO from executing a warrant in January and that he ordered the deletion of records from secure phones used by three military commanders who were key personnel involved in imposing martial law.
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