Seoul: A special counsel team said Friday it summoned former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung to appear for questioning as part of its investigation into former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid. In a notice to the press, special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team said it has notified Shim to appear for questioning, scheduled for 10 a.m. on Sunday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Cho's team has been investigating allegations that Shim received an order from then Justice Minister Park Sung-jae to send prosecutors to the joint investigation headquarters shortly after Yoon's martial law declaration on December 3. Shim is suspected of having held three phone talks with Park overnight from December 3-4.
The special counsel is also reportedly looking into allegations that a prosecutor from the Supreme Prosecutors Office was dispatched to the National Election Commission (NEC) on the day of the martial law declaration. Earlier this year, Yoon acknowledged that he ordered sending troops to the offices of the NEC during his martial law declaration as he harbored suspicions about election fraud.
Cho's team is also said to be investigating why Shim did not challenge a court's decision in March to release Yoon, who had been indicted with physical detention on charges of insurrection, from detention. Shim's decision allowed Yoon to stand trial without detention until he was taken into custody for the second time in July when the Seoul Central District Court issued the arrest warrant requested by Cho's team.