Special Prosecutor's"Summoning Investigation Principle"... Suggesting Possibility of Forced Arrest in Case of Non-Response

Foreign exchange charges face-to-face investigation possibility unknown… Attention is focused on whether to request a detention review

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kwon Hee-won = It has been reported that the special prosecution team for internal strife Cho Eun-seok notified former President Yoon Seok-yeol, who refused to appear for the first investigation after his re-arrest, of a new investigation schedule for the afternoon of the 14th, but it is still unclear whether former President Yoon will appear.

According to the legal community on the 12th, former President Yoon's legal team plans to meet with former President Yoon at the Seoul Detention Center on the morning of the 14th, when the special prosecution team has requested his appearance for questioning, and confirm his intention to appear.

However, it is uncertain whether former President Yoon will respond to the second summons as he is complaining of deteriorating health due to diabetes and psychological shock.

Former President Yoon's attorney said,"Because it is hot inside the detention center and former President Yoon eats little due to diabetes, his motivation to actively testify during questioning has diminished compared to before his arrest."

It has been reported that former President Yoon's side is also considering requesting the court to review the legitimacy of his detention.

The special prosecution team notified that they would conduct the first investigation at 2:00 PM on the 11th after former President Yoon was re-arrested on the morning of the 10th following the issuance of an arrest warrant by the court, but the investigation fell through as former President Yoon did not respond by submitting a statement of reasons for his absence.

As the special prosecution team began to play the 'forced arrest' card after former President Yoon began to show signs of not cooperating with the investigation, it appears that the war of nerves between the two sides will continue even after his arrest.

Special Prosecutor Park Ji-young said in a briefing the previous day,"If it is determined that absence is appropriate, then that's different, but if not, then it seems that we will proceed according to the procedures of the Criminal Procedure Act." She added,"Arrest includes detention and remand, and from that perspective, that means we will review the next steps."

Regarding the possibility of visiting the detention center for investigation considering the case of the former president, he dismissed it, saying,"We will basically use summons as a principle, and we are not planning to visit the detention center for investigation."

In 2017, the prosecution visited the Seoul Detention Center to investigate former President Park Geun-hye four days after her arrest. In the case of former President Lee Myung-bak, the prosecution attempted to visit and investigate her three times, but was rejected all of the time, resulting in a failure to conduct a face-to-face investigation.

If the special prosecution team sticks to its 'hardline strategy' and former President Yoon does not respond to the second investigation, there is a growing possibility that they will resort to forcible arrest.

The special prosecution team is considering indicting former President Yoon on foreign exchange charges in addition to the criminal facts stated in the arrest warrant, and therefore believes that a comprehensive investigation should be conducted through face-to-face questioning.

In a previous briefing, when asked whether it was possible to investigate matters other than the criminal facts in the warrant, Special Prosecutor Park stated,"The circumstances leading to the criminal facts in the warrant, the motive, and subsequent actions are all connected and could constitute other criminal facts, so an investigation into that part will naturally be conducted."

However, even if former President Yoon is forcibly brought in for questioning, if he exercises his right to refuse to testify and adopts a 'hold out' strategy, the investigation into the foreign exchange charges is expected to face difficulties.

During the detention period, the principle is to investigate the criminal facts stated in the warrant, and there is no means of coercing the suspect into refusing to be investigated for other charges.

The special prosecution team is currently investigating foreign exchange suspicions, focusing on whether former President Yoon directly ordered the Drone Operations Command (Drone Command) to deploy drones to Pyongyang around October of last year in order to create a justification for declaring martial law, and whether the military systematically intervened to cover it up.

It has been reported that the special prosecution team recently conducted a series of investigations of military officials, including a pilot who worked at the unit known to have taken off from the drone sent to North Korea and an official from the Agency for Defense Development.

Some military officials reportedly stated that there were orders from their superiors to falsely make it appear as if the drone was flown domestically and to treat it as lost in order to hide the fact that the drone was sent to North Korea.