Seoul, Oct 15 Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol voluntarily appeared before a special counsel team Wednesday before investigators executed a warrant to bring him in by force.
The jailed former president was at special counsel Cho Eun-suk's office to be questioned about allegations related to his failed imposition of martial law, assistant special counsel Park Ji-young said during a press briefing.
Until Wednesday, Yoon had ignored all summonses by special counsel teams investigating various allegations surrounding him and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, following his second arrest in July.
Park said his appearance came after a court issued a warrant for his detention on October 1, and the team ordered its execution to the Seoul Detention Center, where he is held, the next day.
"The Seoul Detention Center was scheduled to execute the detention warrant at around 8 a.m. today in consideration of his trial schedule," she said. "When the prison officer informed him in advance of the warrant issuance and plans to execute it, former President Yoon stated his intention to appear voluntarily and the warrant execution did not take place."
The special counsel team had summoned Yoon twice to be questioned on September 24 and September 30 regarding allegations he ordered the dispatch of drones to North Korea last October to incite its retaliation and use it as justification for his future declaration of martial law, Yonhap news agency reperted.
Yoon imposed martial law on December 3 but withdrew it hours later after the National Assembly voted to repeal it.
The former president has been standing two separate trials over his martial law bid, with one of them covering charges of leading an insurrection and abusing his power.
The special counsel team is expected to additionally indict him on charges of inciting foreign aggression through the drone dispatch.
In a statement to the press, Yoon's lawyers said the former president chose to appear voluntarily on Wednesday to "ease the burden" of prison officers after learning of their "great distress" during a previous attempt to detain him in August.
They also claimed the special counsel team requested the detention warrant unilaterally in violation of the basic principles of lawful procedures.
"At around 7:30 a.m. today, prison officers attempted to suddenly execute the warrant before the suspect had a chance to wash his face, but in order to not impose a burden on them, the suspect put on his clothes and appeared voluntarily without even washing his face," they said.
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