South Korea: Investigators make 3rd attempt to bring in Yoon for questioning
Investigators arrived at the Seoul Detention Center on Wednesday to make their third attempt to forcibly bring in President Yoon Suk Yeol for questioning over his failed martial law bid, Yonhap reports.
A vehicle belonging to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) was seen entering the detention center in Uiwang, south of Seoul, at 10:20 a.m., shortly after the agency's chief said investigators would be making their third attempt to forcibly bring in the president.
The CIO is considering questioning Yoon at the detention center if their repeated attempts fail.
"President Yoon Suk Yeol's side also needs to respect the decision of the judiciary," Oh Dong-woon, the CIO chief, told reporters as he arrived for work earlier in the day. "We will try to forcibly bring him in today."
The CIO has resorted to bringing Yoon in by force as the president has refused to comply with orders to appear for questioning over his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law.
Investigators went to the detention center on Monday and Tuesday to forcibly bring him in but withdrew both times after Yoon's side refused to cooperate.
"If there are objections, they can follow the steps to appeal within the legal framework," Oh said.
Under human rights protection regulations, investigators cannot question a suspect without his or her consent after 9 p.m.
Yoon returned to the detention center past that time on Tuesday after attending his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court and stopping at a military hospital to get a health exam.
"It kind of turned out like a game of hide-and-seek," Oh said when asked if he was aware of Yoon's plans to visit the hospital. "(The investigators) waited at the detention center because it didn't seem right from the perspective of human rights to go looking for him at the hospital."
Oh partially acknowledged that Yoon's delayed return appeared aimed at avoiding questioning.
"It's very regrettable," he said.
As written before, President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared for the first time at his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday, speaking of his long-held belief in "liberal democracy" and asking the bench to consider him favorably on January 21.
