On the morning of the 28th local time, former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol arrived at the Special Investigation Division set up in Seoul’s Higher Prosecutors’ Office to undergo investigation. This marked Yoon Suk-yeol’s first appearance for an inquiry since the establishment of the Special Investigation Division following the emergency martial law incident.
Yoon Suk-yeol has repeatedly been summoned by authorities, yet consistently resisted the investigation. Following the emergency martial law incident, the South Korean Public Integrity Investigation Agency and the police have repeatedly summoned Yoon Suk-yeol for investigations, but he has consistently resisted these efforts. After the Special Investigation Division took over the investigation, on the 24th of this month, they applied to the court for his arrest. Subsequently, Yoon Suk-yeol stated he would accept the investigation by the Special Investigation Division. On the 25th, the South Korean court dismissed the Special Investigation Division’s arrest warrant based on Yoon Suk-yeol’s acceptance of the investigation. The Special Investigation Division then requested Yoon Suk-yeol to appear for the investigation on the 28th.
On the 23rd, Yoon Suk-yeol attended the eighth trial of the case involving the alleged outbreak of internal strife at the Central District Court in Seoul. This was also the first time that the Special Investigation Division, as the prosecution, appeared in a trial since the “Internal Conflict Special Investigation Act” was passed and the special prosecutorial team officially took over the case.
The South Korean Public Integrity Investigation Agency had previously apprehended Yoon Suk-yeol on January 15th of this year. Subsequently, the investigative authority further applied for his detention, which was approved by the court. However, Yoon Suk-yeol later submitted an application to the court, arguing that his detention was illegal and requested the court to cancel it. On March 7th of this year, the South Korean court approved Yoon Suk-yeol’s request for the cancellation of his detention, and he was released on March 8th. The Constitutional Court of South Korea announced Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment on April 4th, leading to a preliminary election held on June 3rd. (Reporter Tang Xin)