SEOUL: Arrested South Korean President Yoon Seok-yul did not plan to take part in a second day of questioning on Thursday, his lawyer said, adding that the criminal investigation will be more rocky over whether he rebelled with his martial law bid. Who was
Yoon, the first South Korean president to be arrested, was taken to a Seoul detention center on Wednesday evening after refusing to cooperate, where he was expected to spend the night in a solitary cell.
Authorities have 48 hours to question the suspended president, after which they must release him or seek a warrant to detain him for up to 20 days.
Yun’s refusal to cooperate with investigators comes as the Constitutional Court is set to hold a second hearing in his impeachment trial to determine whether to permanently remove him or restore his presidential powers. should be done
South Korea is reeling from its worst political crisis in decades, triggered by Yun’s brief attempt to impose martial law on Dec. 3 that was rejected by parliament.
Yoon’s arrest on Wednesday ended a weeks-long standoff with authorities after police swooped on his walled hillside villa in Seoul before dawn, to the dismay of followers at the site.
Yun said he turned himself in for questioning by corruption investigators to prevent the risk of “uncivilized bloodshed”, though he continued to protest that it was an illegal investigation. And there was a non-bailable arrest warrant.
An official from the Corruption Investigations Office (CIO) said on Wednesday that Yun has so far refused to speak to investigators who prepared the more than 200-page questionnaire.
A CIO official said the embattled leader did not even answer a single question.
According to the CIO, his interrogation is set to resume at 2pm (0500GMT) on Thursday.
But Yoon Cub-kyun, one of Yoon’s lawyers, said in a text message to reporters that Yoon would not appear for questioning.
Yonhap The same lawyer reported Yoon’s health as a factor and said further inquiries were pointless, without explanation.
The CIO official said he believed it was possible to force Yun to be brought in for questioning but would further check on the relevant laws.
A small crowd of protesters supporting Yun gathered and sat in the street outside the CIO office, denouncing the president’s arrest as illegal.
His lawyers have said the arrest warrant is illegal because it was issued by a court in the wrong jurisdiction and the team set up to investigate him had no legal authority to do so.
He has also asked another court to review the legality of the arrest.
His legal team has categorically denied charges against Yoon of masterminding the coup, a crime punishable by life imprisonment or even the death penalty in South Korea.
According to the CIO, Yoon’s arrest period has been temporarily suspended for 48 hours pending a judicial review.
Separately, the Constitutional Court will now decide whether to uphold the impeachment, following the December 14 impeachment by parliament over Yun’s attempted martial law.
Opinion polls show a majority of South Koreans support Yoon’s impeachment, but efforts to arrest him appear to have rallied his staunchest supporters.
The political crisis has gripped Asia’s fourth-largest economy and put pressure on the won currency.
South Korea’s central bank unexpectedly left its policy interest rate unchanged on Thursday, weighing the impact of its back-to-back rate cuts last year, supporting a win that in recent weeks has seen the U.S. It hit a 15-year low against the dollar.
A majority of analysts in one Reuters Polls had expected rates to fall.