South Korea: Special counsel says no plans to detain Yoon until Wednesday

Seoul, Aug 5 South Korea's special counsel team has said it has no plans to make a second attempt at detaining jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol until Wednesday.

Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team, which is investigating various corruption allegations involving Yoon's wife, Kim Keon Hee, said the decision follows Yoon's appointment of a lawyer.

"We plan to discuss the schedule and method of questioning with the lawyer, and therefore have no plans to execute the detention warrant today or tomorrow," the team said in a notice to the press on Tuesday.

The former president has reportedly appointed Bae Bo-yoon, a former Constitutional Court spokesperson, as his legal representative.

Min's team has sought to bring in Yoon for questioning over allegations he and his wife meddled in candidate nominations for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections, reports Yonhap news agency.

Yoon, who is in custody over his failed attempt to impose martial law in December, snubbed two summonses last week and refused to comply with the team's execution of a detention warrant on Friday.

The warrant is set to expire Thursday, but the team has indicated it will apply for a new warrant if necessary.

Yoon's wife has been summoned to appear for questioning on Wednesday.

Earlier on Monday, a special counsel team and the former president's lawyers clashed over the reason Yoon was dressed only in his underwear when investigators tried to detain him at his prison cell last week.

Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team said last Friday that the jailed former president resisted their attempt to execute a detention warrant for him by lying on the floor of his cell wearing only his underwear.

The team sought to bring in Yoon for questioning over allegations he and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, meddled in candidate nominations for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor