On July 6, the South Korean prosecutor’s office announced in a statement that the special investigation department had filed an application to detain former President Yoon Suk Yeol, accusing him of involvement in the rebellion declared last year when martial law was imposed.
The special prosecutor in charge of investigating the December 3rd incident stated in the announcement that the detention request is related to charges of abuse of authority and obstructing judicial fairness.
Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law decree was lifted approximately six hours after it was announced, following a dramatic incident where he was forced to climb over the parliament building’s fence and push through the security forces, as lawmakers voted to reject the martial law.
According to the special prosecutor, as part of the investigation into the rebellion allegations, Yoon Suk Yeol was summoned for questioning by the special prosecutor last Saturday and underwent several hours of interrogation.
Yoon Suk Yeol’s lawyer stated that the special prosecutor has not provided reliable evidence regarding the charges against him, and Yoon Suk Yeol’s legal team plans to argue that the arrest request is unreasonable in court.
Last month, on June 25, the South Korean court rejected the special prosecutor’s arrest application against former President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol faced impeachment in the political arena due to the abrupt declaration of martial law on December 3 last year and was forced to step down in April this year following the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the impeachment.
After Lee Jae-myung was elected as the new president of South Korea in June, he appointed special prosecutor Cho In-hyuk to handle the case of Yoon Suk Yeol.
It is reported that Yoon Suk Yeol had failed to respond to police summons twice before. After the special prosecution began its investigation on June 18, Yoon Suk Yeol also did not respond to the summons on June 19, explicitly stating that he would not respond to future summons from the prosecution.
(This article refers to relevant reports by Reuters)