SEOUL(South Korea): South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday defied summons from a joint investigation team regarding his brief declaration of martial law, marking the second time he has defied summons, according to a report by Yonhap News Agency.
Yoon failed to appear at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) in Gwacheon by the 10:00 am deadline. The CIO has stated it will remain prepared for his potential appearance later in the day.
The summons was part of a joint probe conducted by the CIO, police, and the defence ministry’s investigation unit into his December 3 martial law declaration.
This follows Yoon’s earlier refusal to comply with a summons issued last Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Seok Dong-hyeon, Yoon’s lawyer, had said that Yoon places a priority on the Constitutional Court proceedings on his impeachment and that he plans to issue a statement on his position on the trial after Christmas Day, Yonhap News Agency reported.
A day before, the main opposition in the South Korean assembly, the Democratic Party (DP), announced that it will delay its plan to introduce the impeachment motion against South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo who refused to promulgate two special counsel bills targeting Yoon and former first lady Kim Keon Hee.
Initially, the DP planned to introduce the motion on Tuesday evening (local time) but decided to postpone it for two days to see if Han would appoint Constitutional Court justices after the motions for their appointments are passed during Thursday’s plenary session, according to DP floor leader Representative Park Chan-dae.
“We have decided to wait with patience to see whether our demands are implemented on Thursday,” Park said as quoted by Yonhap News Agency, emphasising that Thursday is the final opportunity for Han to act.
On December 14, Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly over his attempt to impose martial law in the country. The members of the unicameral National Assembly had voted 204 to 85 to impeach South Korea’s President.
Three members of the National Assembly abstained from voting while eight votes were declared invalid. The voting was conducted through secret ballot, with two-thirds of the vote needed for impeachment. All 300 members of the assembly cast their vote.
After his impeachment, Yoon was suspended from office. South Korea’s Prime Minister Han Duck-soo took over as the interim president. (ANI)