Suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has turned down an order to appear for questioning on Christmas Day, which marks the second time within a week that he has refused to comply with orders from investigators.
Investigators responsible for investigating Yoon’s activities had issued him summons to appear for questioning at 10 am (GMT 0100) on Wednesday, a summons he refused to heed.
The former prosecutor also failed to appear in a hearing the last Wednesday without giving any reasons for being absent.
A conservative leader, Yoon, was removed of his presidential powers by parliament on December 14 after he declared martial law, a step which plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades. Now, he will also be impeached and is under criminal charges for committing acts of insurrection. It might even mean a sentence to life imprisonment or death sentence-an event that drew intense concerns from South Korea’s democratic allies worldwide.
The Corruption Investigation Office is said to be considering issuing a third summons for Yoon or requesting a court-issued arrest warrant to force him to appear.
Multiple investigations into Yoon have already begun, involving prosecutors, police, the defense ministry, and anti-corruption officials. In the meantime, parliament’s impeachment motion is before the Constitutional Court. Should it accept the motion, then a ruling must be returned within six months. Also within 60 days from then, a by-election should take place.
In a similar case, former President Park Geun-hye faced impeachment under comparable circumstances but was only investigated after the Constitutional Court officially removed her from office.
The opposition party in South Korea said Tuesday that it would postpone its decision on impeaching acting President Han Duck-soo until later in the week. The Democratic Party had earlier planned to present an impeachment motion against Han to protest his refusal to sign special bills meant to investigate Yoon.
