The Special Prosecution Investigation Team for Korea’s Internal Disorders announced today (July 4th) that they are investigating the former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s “inciting external threats” act. The charge of inciting external threats is the same as that of internal disorder, and it is the highest criminal offense in Korea with a fixed penalty according to law. The Special Prosecution Investigation Team stated that they are currently investigating attempts by Yoon Suk-yeol and former Defense Minister Kim Long-hyun to use drone incidents to incite North Korea to attack South Korea as an excuse for initiating an emergency martial law. The Special Prosecution Investigation Team will question Yoon Suk-yeol during his second summons on July 5th regarding this matter. The team also mentioned that to investigate the lawyer of Yoon Suk-yeol’s “obstruction of investigation,” three police officers were dispatched on July 3rd to collect relevant materials.
Previous reports: Former President of Korea Yoon Suk-yeol Arrived at the Special Prosecution Investigation Team for the First Time to Accept Investigation (Report)
△Yoon Suk-yeol arriving at the Special Prosecution Investigation Team on the morning of July 28th
On the morning of July 28th local time, former President of Korea Yoon Suk-yeol arrived at the Special Prosecution Investigation Team set up in Seoul’s Higher Prosecutors’ Office to accept investigation. This marks the first time since the establishment of the Special Prosecution Investigation Team for the emergency martial law case that Yoon Suk-yeol has appeared for investigation.
Yoon Suk-yeol has repeatedly been summoned but has consistently resisted the investigation. Following the emergence of the emergency martial law incident, high-ranking public officials in Korea, including the Korean Police Force, have repeatedly summoned Yoon Suk-yeol for investigation. However, Yoon Suk-yeol has consistently resisted these investigations. After taking over the investigation, the Special Prosecution Investigation Team applied for arrest of Yoon Suk-yeol on July 24th, which was later rejected by the court due to Yoon Suk-yeol’s acceptance of the investigation. Subsequently, the Special Prosecution Investigation Team requested Yoon Suk-yeol to appear for investigation on July 28th.
On July 23rd, Yoon Suk-yeol attended the eighth trial of the case involving the alleged outbreak of internal disorder at the Central District Court in Seoul. This marked the first time since the passing of the “Special Prosecution Law for Internal Disorders” that the Special Prosecution Investigation Team took part in a trial as the prosecution.
The Korean High Public Integrity Investigation Agency had arrested Yoon Suk-yeol on January 15th of this year, and subsequently, the investigative authorities further approved the detention of Yoon Suk-yeol. However, Yoon Suk-yeol later applied to the court, arguing that his detention was illegal and requested the court to cancel it. On March 7th of this year, the court approved Yoon Suk-yeol’s request for detention cancellation, and Yoon Suk-yeol was released on March 8th. The Constitutional Court of Korea declared Yoon Suk-yeol impeached on April 4th, and South Korea held a preliminary election on June 3rd. (CCTV Tang Xin)