"Health Deterioration Due to Diabetes and Heat" Yoon Not Appearing Today, Will Forced Measures Be Taken?

[Financial News]  The Special Prosecutor's Team for Rebellion and Foreign Affairs (Cho Eun-seok Special Prosecutor) notified the re-arrested former President Yoon Seok-yeol to appear for investigation on the 14th, but it is uncertain if it will happen.

Former President Yoon has been confined in the Seoul Detention Center citing health reasons since his arrest on the 10th.

The special prosecutor's team maintains that if the reason for non-compliance is not valid, they have no choice but to consider forced attendance, raising tension between the two sides.

The special prosecutor's team requested former President Yoon to appear at the Seoul High Prosecutor's Office building, where the special prosecutor's team office is located, at 2 PM on this day.

Previously, after arresting former President Yoon at dawn on the 10th for charges including abuse of authority, they requested his appearance at 2 PM the next day, but when he did not comply citing health reasons, they notified him of the investigation date again.

The special prosecutor's team received a response from the Seoul Detention Center stating that "there is no objective evidence of health issues in the admission health check and current detention management process," so they believe former President Yoon is not in a state where he cannot undergo investigation.

However, there is a possibility that former President Yoon may again refuse to comply citing health issues.

According to former President Yoon's side, his health condition has significantly deteriorated due to his chronic diabetes and the poor detention center environment in the heat.

The lawyers plan to visit the Seoul Detention Center in the morning to check former President Yoon's health condition and then inform the special prosecutor's team of his appearance.

If the special prosecutor's team determines that former President Yoon is refusing investigation for unjust reasons, they believe they have no choice but to resort to compulsory measures under the Criminal Procedure Act, namely forced attendance.

Based on the law and Supreme Court precedents, the special prosecutor's team believes that if a suspect refuses to appear for investigation, they can be forcibly brought to the investigation room under the effect of the arrest warrant.

However, there are predictions that it will not be easy to forcibly bring former President Yoon to the investigation room.

Earlier this year, the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office, which arrested and detained former President Yoon on charges of being the mastermind of rebellion, attempted forced attendance and on-site investigation three times, but all failed as former President Yoon refused citing lawyer consultations.

If forced attendance also fails, the special prosecutor's team cannot rule out the possibility of attempting a detention center visit investigation, but the success is uncertain.

If even the visit investigation fails, there is cautious discussion of proceeding with indictment without investigation.

Previously, in 2018, when former President Lee Myung-bak, who was detained on charges including bribery of over 11 billion won, refused a detention center visit investigation, the prosecution eventually proceeded to trial without a face-to-face investigation.kyu0705@fnnews.com Kim Dong-kyu Reporter