Seoul: A special counsel team announced Thursday its intention to execute a detention warrant for jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol this week to forcibly bring him in for questioning. Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team plans to dispatch an assistant special counsel, a prosecutor, and investigators to the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, just south of Seoul, at 9 a.m. Friday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Seoul Central District Court earlier issued a detention warrant for Yoon after he defied two summonses to appear for questioning. Yoon, who is already under arrest for his failed attempt to impose martial law in December, has been a focus of Min's investigation into allegations involving him and his wife, Kim Keon Hee. The couple is accused of meddling in the nomination of candidates for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections through Myung Tae-kyun, a self-proclaimed power broker.
Yoon's legal team has attributed his noncompliance with the summonses to his deteriorating health. This is the second detention warrant issued for him; the first was in January when the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials detained him at the presidential residence and took him to the same detention center until his release in March. He was initially arrested on charges related to leading an insurrection through his martial law attempt.
There is skepticism about Yoon's willingness to cooperate with the questioning, even if he is forcibly brought to the interrogation room. Allegations against him and his wife include receiving free opinion polls from Myung prior to the 2022 presidential election, allegedly in exchange for securing the nomination of former People Power Party Rep. Kim Young-sun for a parliamentary by-election.
Min's team is further investigating whether Yoon violated election laws by making false statements about his wife's suspected involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme during the 2021 presidential primaries. The investigation encompasses 19 criminal allegations against the former first lady.