Yoon, 'Due to Health Reasons' Fails to Appear for Investigation... Special Prosecutor Warns of Forced Summons if Continued Non-compliance

[Financial News] The special investigation team for rebellion and foreign exchange (Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok) is investigating the possibility of summoning former President Yoon Seok-yeol, who is detained at Seoul Detention Center.
Park Ji-young, the special prosecutor for rebellion, said at a regular briefing held at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office on the afternoon of the 11th, "If former President Yoon continues to refuse the special prosecutor team's summons, we will take the next steps stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Act," adding, "In the case of detention, it includes the concept of arrest and custody."
Special Prosecutor Park responded to the question, 'Is the procedure under the Criminal Procedure Act taken when the health reasons presented by former President Yoon's side are deemed unreasonable?' by saying, "Yes," and "It means that if he refuses, we will notify him of an additional appearance and then summon him."
He added, "Basically, the special prosecutor prioritizes summons," and "We are not planning a detention center visit investigation."
To the question, 'Can additional appearance notification and summons be carried out simultaneously?' he replied, "They can be carried out together," but "It is not confirmed, and if the documents from Seoul Detention Center arrive today, we will review them and provide detailed information."
Special Prosecutor Park further explained, "Detention is to facilitate the investigation by obtaining a warrant," and "If he responded to the summons when not detained, what meaning does it have if he doesn't respond after being detained?"
Former President Yoon submitted a non-appearance statement to the special prosecutor team's notification to appear at 2 PM today and did not appear at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office building. The reason for non-appearance stated by former President Yoon's side is health reasons.
In response, the special prosecutor team requested documents to verify former President Yoon's health condition at Seoul Detention Center, where he is located. These include health check-up documents received upon admission and health verification documents conducted for inmate management after admission.
Special Prosecutor Park said, "Related documents may arrive from Seoul Detention Center today," and "If the non-appearance is deemed unreasonable, we will proceed according to the procedures stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Act."
As it is expected that the document response will not take long, additional summons may be possible as early as this weekend.

kyu0705@fnnews.com Kim Dong-kyu Reporter