SEOUL: Impeached South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol failed to appear before the country’s corruption watchdog on Wednesday, it said, after being summoned for questioning over his martial law bid.
Yun was removed from office by parliament over the weekend after the short-lived declaration of martial law on Dec. 3 plunged the country into its worst political turmoil in decades.
Investigators from the Corruption Investigation Bureau (CIO) called him to their facility in the suburbs of Seoul at 10:00 am. (01:00 GMT) for questioning on charges of sedition and abuse of power.
“Chairman Yun did not show up for his call today,” a CIO official said AFP.
Yoon’s legal team said Tuesday that he did not commit sedition and vowed to fight the charge in court, according to Yonhap news agency.
“Although we do not consider the sedition charges to be legally valid, we will comply with the investigation,” Seok Dong-hyeon of Yoon’s team was quoted as saying.
The CIO said this week that a subpoena was sent to Yoon but returned “undelivered” after an unidentified person in the president’s office refused to accept it.
Yun’s failure to appear on Wednesday “will be considered a failure to comply with the first summons,” a statement from the CIO said.
Investigators said they were considering sending a second subpoena, but CIO chief Oh Dong-woon told parliament on Tuesday 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.
Presidential Security Services foiled “the joint investigation team’s attempt to raid a computer server” at the presidential compound, Yonhap news agency he said on 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 began proceedings against Yun on Monday, is separately considering whether to uphold his impeachment.
The court on Wednesday ordered Yoon to produce the martial law decree he issued two weeks ago, as well as records of cabinet meetings held immediately before and after the announcement.
Judges have about six months to decide Yoon’s case, and a preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 27, though Yoon is not required to attend.
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