According to an official from a joint task force under the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), an independent agency established to root out corruption in the government, the request was made on Friday for Yoon to appear for questioning next Wednesday. This is the second summons issued after Yoon declined to comply with the initial one earlier this week.
Due to security concerns, the CIO appears to have scheduled the date for Christmas Day.
The summons was sent to both Yoon's official residence in Hannam-dong and the presidential office in Yongsan.
The CIO investigators are expected to question Yoon on alleged charges of insurrection and abuse of power related to the Dec. 3 martial law debacle.
Should Yoon continue to avoid the summons, the CIO may consider seeking a court-issued arrest warrant. In general, investigators request such an arrest warrant if a suspect fails to comply with attendance requests about three times without proper reasons.
But it remains to be seen, as it may be difficult to apply for an arrest warrant if Yoon requests more time to finalize his legal team for his defense.
Yoon was suspended from his presidential duties immediately after a motion to impeach him was passed in the National Assembly last Saturday. The Constitutional Court of Korea is preparing to begin deliberations on his impeachment trial to determine whether to impeach or reinstate the president.
Meanwhile, the CIO revealed that it has questioned nine out of about a dozen suspects including Acting President Han Duck-soo, who attended Cabinet meetings where they were allegedly involved in the botched martial law attempt.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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