SEOUL: Impeached South Korean President Yoon Seok-yul failed to appear before the country’s anti-corruption watchdog on Wednesday, saying he had been summoned for questioning over his bid for martial law.
Yun was removed from his duties by parliament over the weekend after declaring martial law on December 3, plunging the country into its worst political crisis in decades.
Investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) summoned him to their facility in suburban Seoul at 10:00am (0100GMT) for questioning on charges of rebellion and abuse of power.
“President Yoon did not appear for his summons today,” a CIO official said AFP.
Yoon’s legal team said Tuesday that he did not commit rebellion and vowed to fight the charge in court. Yonhap news agency.
“Although we do not consider the coup accusations to be legally valid, we will comply with the investigation,” said Seok Dong-hyun of Yoon’s team.
The CIO said this week that a summons was sent to Yun but returned “undelivered” after an unidentified person in the presidential office refused to accept it.
A CIO statement said Yoon’s no-show on Wednesday “will be considered a failure to comply with a prior summons.”
Investigators said they were considering sending a second summons, but CIO chief Oh Dong-won told parliament on Tuesday that they were also considering whether to issue an arrest warrant.
Yoon is being investigated by South Korean prosecutors as well as a joint team of police, defense ministry and anti-corruption investigators.
The Presidential Security Services thwarted a “joint investigation team’s attempt to raid a computer server” at the presidential compound. Yonhap news agency said Wednesday.
Yoon and some of his inner circle face possible life in prison, or even the death penalty, if convicted. He remains under an international travel ban.
South Korea’s constitutional court, which opened proceedings against Yoon on Monday, is separately considering whether to uphold his impeachment.
The court on Wednesday ordered Yun to submit the martial law decree he issued two weeks ago, as well as records of cabinet meetings held immediately before and after the declaration.
Jurors have about six months to decide Yoon’s case and a preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 27, although Yoon is not required to appear.