South Korea’s Yoon refuses questioning again as warrant deadline nears

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - A supporter of detained and impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol holds up a safety cone during a rally at the entrance of the Seoul Detention Centre in Seoul January 16, 2025. — AFP pic

SEOUL, Jan 17 — Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol today again refused investigators’ efforts to question him over his failed martial law bid, as the deadline on his detention neared.

Yoon threw the nation into chaos on December 3 when he attempted to impose martial law, citing the need to combat threats from “anti-state elements”.

But his bid lasted just six hours, as the soldiers he directed to storm parliament failed to stop lawmakers from voting down the power grab that plunged the country into its worst political crisis in decades.

In the following weeks, Yoon was impeached by parliament and resisted arrest while holed up at his guarded residence, before becoming the country’s first-ever sitting president to be detained.

The arrest warrant executed in Wednesday’s dawn raid on Yoon’s residence allowed investigators to hold Yoon for just 48 hours.

But they are expected to seek a new warrant today that will likely extend his detention by 20 days, allowing prosecutors time to formalise an indictment against him.

“It is anticipated that the CIO (Corruption Investigation Office) will request an arrest warrant from the Seoul Western District Court as the next step after the arrest warrant,” Yoon’s legal team said today.

The CIO called Yoon for questioning at 10am local time (0100 GMT) today, the Yonhap news agency reported, but his lawyer Yoon Kab-keun told AFP the embattled leader would refuse to appear for the second day in a row.

CIO officials did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.

Another lawyer, Seok Dong-hyeon, told reporters Yoon had already explained his position to investigators and had no reason to answer their questions.

“The president will not appear at the CIO today. He has sufficiently expressed his basic stance to the investigators on the first day,” he said.

The former star prosecutor — who faces charges of insurrection — was questioned for hours on Wednesday but exercised his right to silence before refusing to appear for interrogation the next day.

Yoon said he had agreed to voluntarily leave his compound and meet with police to avoid “bloodshed” but did not accept the legality of the investigation.

His ruling People Power Party has called the detention unlawful.

But the country’s opposition Democratic Party celebrated Yoon’s arrest, with a top official calling it “the first step” to restoring constitutional and legal order after weeks of turmoil.

Impeachment trial

The 64-year-old suspended leader had evaded arrest for weeks by remaining in his residential compound, protected by loyal members of the Presidential Security Service (PSS).

Yesterday, about a hundred of Yoon’s supporters gathered in front of the CIO building to protest his detention and shout chants against the CIO.

He has remained defiant since his arrest.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday after his detention, Yoon repeated election fraud claims and referred to “hostile” nations attacking the country, alluding to North Korea.

In a parallel probe, the Constitutional Court is deciding whether to uphold Yoon’s impeachment.

If that happens, Yoon would lose the presidency and fresh elections would have to be held within 60 days.

He did not attend the first two hearings this week.

The trial is continuing in Yoon’s absence and proceedings could last for months.

Yesterday, the National Assembly’s legal team told reporters that Yoon’s arrest had “created the conditions to swiftly resolve the constitutional crisis through procedures outlined by the Constitution and the law”. — AFP