South Korea: Police request ex-President Yoon to appear for questioning this week over martial law probe

Seoul, June 9 South Korean Police have notified former President Yoon Suk Yeol that he should appear for questioning this week as part of their probe into Yoon's failed martial law bid, a police official investigating the case said on Monday.

Yoon, who was ousted in April over the botched attempt to impose martial law in December, has been asked to appear for questioning as a suspect on Thursday, according to the official.

Police requested that Yoon appear for questioning last Thursday, but the former president did not show up.

Yoon has been booked on charges of having ordered the Presidential Security Service to block the investigative authorities' attempt to execute an arrest warrant for Yoon in early January as part of an investigation into insurrection charges related to him, Yonhap news agency reported.

Asked whether police would seek an arrest warrant against Yoon unless he shows up for questioning this week or later, the official chose not to comment.

Earlier in the day, Yoon Suk Yeol attended the sixth hearing of his insurrection trial, appearing in public for the first time since the June 3 presidential election.

The former president walked past reporters as he entered the Seoul Central District Court but did not answer questions about his thoughts on the election or the National Assembly's passage of special counsel bills targeting him and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, Yonhap news agency reported.

An election to pick his successor was held last week, and the winner, his former opponent Lee Jae-myung, took office immediately.

Lee Sang-hyun, former head of the 1st Airborne Special Forces Brigade, has been summoned to take the witness stand for the second consecutive hearing.

During the last session, he testified to hearing on the day of the martial law bid that Yoon had ordered the head of the Army Special Warfare Command to drag out lawmakers from the National Assembly building, even if it meant breaking down doors.

If convicted of insurrection, Yoon could be sentenced to a maximum penalty of life in prison or death.

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