Yoon Sang-hyun, 15-Hour Summons Investigation on Nomination Intervention Allegations

On the 28th, according to the special prosecutor, Yoon was summoned to the Kim Geon-hee special prosecutor's office located in the KT Gwanghwamun Building West in Jongno-gu, Seoul, at around 9:25 a.m. the previous day, and was investigated for a total of 14 hours and 45 minutes, including the reading of records. He returned home at around 0:10 a.m. on the 28th.

After completing the investigation, Yoon, when asked if he had ever been contacted by former President Yoon Seok-yeol regarding Kim Young-sun's nomination, only stated, "I have told everything sincerely and truthfully," and avoided making a clear statement on whether he was involved in the nomination intervention.

Yoon's lawyer stated, "He spoke the truth as much as possible" and "was cooperative with the investigation."

Yoon was the head of the nomination management committee of the People Power Party during the 2022 June 1 local elections and by-elections, overseeing the entire nomination process. The special prosecutor is said to have intensively questioned whether former President Yoon and Mrs. Kim exerted undue influence during the nomination process, resulting in decisions that violated party regulations.

According to the previously released call recordings, on May 9, 2022, former President Yoon told political broker Myung Tae-kyun, "I have been supporting Kim Young-sun since the primary, so please help Kim Young-sun. There is a lot of talk in the party. I will talk to Sang-hyun again. He is the head of the nomination committee."

Accordingly, on the 8th of this month, the special prosecutor searched Yoon's office and home, as well as former lawmaker Kim Young-sun's home, and during this process, former President Yoon and his wife, Yoon, and former Presidential Secretary Jeong Jin-seok were all specified as suspects in the search warrant.

The investigation began with allegations that during the 2022 presidential election, Mrs. Kim demanded Kim Young-sun's nomination in return for receiving free public opinion surveys from Mr. Myung, and Yoon executed this.