South Korea: Ex-President Yoon fails to appear for questioning by special counsel

Seoul, July 11 (IANS) Arrested former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol failed to appear Friday for questioning by a special counsel over his attempt to impose martial law.

Yoon, who has been held at the Seoul Detention Centre since his second arrest Thursday, submitted a written reason for absence to special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team ahead of the scheduled questioning at 2 p.m.

"Former President Yoon submitted a reason for absence citing health reasons," assistant special counsel Park Ji-young said during a press briefing.

"In response, the special counsel asked the Seoul Detention Centre for material showing health problems were found during his admission to prevent him from appearing for questioning."

In the event Yoon's absence cannot be explained, Park suggested the special counsel will take steps to bring him in by force.

"You can assume we will proceed in line with the steps under the Criminal Procedure Code," she said.

Yoon was taken into custody early Thursday after a court issued a warrant to arrest him over five key charges, including his alleged violation of the rights of Cabinet members by calling only a select few to a meeting held shortly before he declared martial law on December 3.

Cho's team also accused the former president of creating a false martial law declaration document after December 3 to add legitimacy to his actions, and having it signed by then Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and then Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun before discarding it.

In addition, Yoon is accused of instructing the presidential spokesperson for foreign press to distribute false statements after the martial law attempt, ordering the Presidential Security Service (PSS) to block his detention by investigators in early January and ordering the PSS to delete call records from secure phones used by three military commanders.

This is the second time Yoon has been arrested, Yonhap news agency reported.

The first time was in January when he was still in office, but a court later accepted his request to cancel his arrest, granting his release in March.

--IANS

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