South Korea: Ex-President Yoon questioned by special counsel over martial law bid

Seoul, June 28 (IANS) Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared for questioning by a special counsel team on Saturday over insurrection charges related to his December 3 martial law declaration.

Yoon arrived at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul at 9:56 a.m., two weeks after the special counsel probe was launched and just 85 days after his impeachment.

This marks the ousted President's first appearance before an investigative body in about 5 months, following his arrest and questioning by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) in January.

In addition to his insurrection charges in connection with the failed martial law bid, Yoon is accused of ordering the Presidential Security Service (PSS) to physically block his arrest when the CIO attempted to execute a warrant in January, and directing the PSS to delete records from secure phones used by military commanders shortly after his failed attempt to impose martial law.

Following the martial law bid, Yoon was summoned by the CIO for questioning three times in December but refused to comply.

The CIO attempted to detain him in early January but failed due to a prolonged standoff with presidential security personnel. He ended up being detained on January 15 at the presidential residence in central Seoul, making him the first sitting South Korean President to be arrested.

Yoon's lawyer argued that the former President defied the summonses because the detention warrant filed by the CIO failed to meet legal grounds.

Starting at 10:14 a.m., the special counsel team focused on questioning Yoon about obstructing the arrest in January.

In the afternoon, the team plans to question him about a Cabinet meeting he convened in the hours leading up to the short-lived martial law imposition.

Yoon arrived at the prosecutors' office through the main entrance in a black van and entered the building without answering reporters' questions. Earlier, Yoon's team had requested that he be allowed to enter privately through the underground parking lot, but the request was denied.

Shortly after his arrival, Yoon's legal team issued a statement strongly condemning the special counsel team, accusing it of staging a "political show" pertaining to the summoning of the former President, Yonhap news agency reported.

"(The special counsel team) must not unilaterally notify the suspect or publicly expose the suspect's appearance in a way that infringes on their rights," it said.

It marked the first time Yoon was questioned inside the prosecutors' office where he once served as a prosecutor and where he himself led a special counsel team investigating former President Park Geun-hye's influence-peddling scandal.

--IANS

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