On July 31st, local time, the Central District Court of Seoul, South Korea, issued a detention warrant for former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was in custody but refused to cooperate with an investigation. The warrant was issued, and the Special Prosecution Team for Investigating the suspicions related to former First Lady Kim Jong-hee, known as the Kim Jong-hee Special Prosecution Team, will first go to Yoon’s detention facility in Seoul on the morning of August 1st to enforce the warrant and initiate an investigation against him.
On the 30th, the Special Prosecution Team for Investigating the suspicions related to former First Lady Kim Jong-hee applied to the Central District Court of Seoul for a detention warrant against Yoon Suk-yeol. This action was taken following Yoon Suk-yeol’s refusal to attend the investigations and court proceedings twice on the 29th and 30th, respectively.
Since his arrest on July 10th, Yoon Suk-yeol has consistently refused to appear in all investigations and court hearings due to worsening health conditions. His lawyer stated that Yoon’s diabetes had worsened, leading to difficulties in movement; furthermore, he was diagnosed by his attending physician with a risk of blindness due to worsening eye disease, thus unable to appear in court for the investigation.
On December 3rd last year, then-President Yoon Suk-yeol issued an emergency martial law order. On the 14th of the same month, the National Assembly passed a motion to impeach Yoon Suk-yeol, immediately suspending his presidential powers. On January 15th this year, Yoon Suk-yeol was arrested for the first time, becoming the first current president in South Korean constitutional history to be arrested. On March 8th, Yoon was released. On April 4th, the Constitutional Court of South Korea announced its decision to impeach Yoon, removing him from office. On July 10th, the Central District Court of Seoul issued a detention warrant for Yoon Suk-yeol, citing “concern over (suspect) destroying evidence,” marking his second arrest after 124 days. (CCTV Reporter: Zhang Yun)