South Korea: Special counsel suspends execution of detention warrant for Yoon due to 'stubborn refusal'

Seoul, Aug 7 A South Korean special counsel team suspended its execution of a warrant on Thursday to interrogate jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol over allegations of election meddling, citing concerns of injury due to his "stubborn refusal."

This is the second time special counsel Min Joong-ki's team has failed to execute the detention warrant for Yoon following the first attempt last Friday.

"We directed the Seoul Detention Centre to execute the detention warrant at around 8:25 a.m., and used physical force, but upon accepting opinions on-site that due to former President Yoon's stubborn refusal, there are concerns of injury, we suspended the execution around 9:40 a.m.," the team said in a notice to the press.

Yoon's lawyers issued a statement denouncing the detention attempt as "public shaming."

"Even if a detention warrant has been issued for the purpose of investigation, if former President Yoon says he will exercise his right to remain silent, the detention warrant should not be executed," they said.

Yoon has been held in custody at Seoul Detention Centre in Uiwang, just south of the Capital, since July 10 on charges related to his failed attempt to impose martial law in December.

The special counsel team arrived there earlier in the day to make a second attempt to execute the warrant after Yoon twice snubbed its summonses last week.

A first attempt to bring him in for questioning last Friday failed after the former president resisted by lying on the floor of his prison cell wearing only his underwear, according to the team.

The warrant expires at the end of Thursday, raising the possibility the team will apply for a new warrant. It could opt instead to indict Yoon without interrogating him if it appears difficult to bring him in by force.

Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, face allegations of receiving free opinion polls from self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun ahead of the 2022 presidential election in exchange for securing the nomination of former People Power Party Rep. Kim Young-sun for a parliamentary by-election later that year.

The former first lady underwent nearly 11 hours of questioning at Min's office Wednesday after being summoned to respond to a host of allegations against her, including election meddling, bribery and stock manipulation.

Kim became the first spouse of a former or sitting president to publicly appear as a suspect in a criminal investigation.

Meanwhile, this is the second detention warrant issued for Yoon.

In January, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials apprehended Yoon at the official presidential residence under a court-issued warrant and took him to the same detention centre where he was held until his surprise release in March.

At the time, he was detained on charges of leading an insurrection through his martial law attempt.

Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho instructed Seoul Detention Centre on Wednesday to "actively cooperate" with the special counsel team's warrant execution.

The team has separately called on the former president to comply with the execution of the law, Yonhap news agency reported.

During a press briefing Monday, it referred to an incident in 2017 when Yoon, as a prosecutor and head of a special counsel investigation team, forcibly brought in Choi Soon-sil, a friend of then President Park Geun-hye, to question her over corruption allegations involving both people.

"We well know how former President Yoon investigated and are simply trying to apply the same methods," assistant special counsel Moon Hong-ju said at the briefing.

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