Special Prosecutor Jo Eun-seok announced on the 24th that he has requested an arrest warrant for former President Yoon Seok-yeol on charges of obstructing special public service. This action took place just six days after the investigation began on the 18th.
In a briefing that afternoon, Special Prosecutor Park Ji-young stated that the request for an arrest warrant for the former President Yoon was made at 5:50 PM. He explained that the background for the arrest warrant request was Yoon’s refusal to comply with the police’s two requests for attendance, and his refusal to appear on the 19th, the day after the investigation began.
Special Prosecutor Park added, “Former President Yoon was the only one among the investigation subjects who did not respond to the investigation, which necessitated the request for an arrest warrant for suspect interrogation.” Former President Yoon is accused of ordering his security office to prevent his arrest.
In addition, he is accused of ordering the deletion of mobile phone-related information from the security office four days after the declaration of martial law on December 7 last year, involving former Special Forces Commander Kwak Jong-geun, former Capital Defense Commander Lee Jin-woo, and former Military Intelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung.
The special police investigation team sent notifications to former President Yoon on the 5th, 12th, and 19th of this month, asking him to appear as a suspect, but Yoon did not respond. The former President Yoon’s side has declared that the attempt to execute the arrest warrant itself is illegal and invalid, and the charges are not established.
Typically, if a person does not respond to a request for attendance three times or more without a valid reason, investigative agencies will consider forcible measures such as arrest.