Prosecutors' Office: "Forced Detention Stopped at 9 PM Due to Yoon's Refusal... Retry Planned"

Attempted at Around 3 p.m., Withdrawal After About 6 Hours
Yoon's Side: "Legal Team Met with the President Until 9:30 p.m. to Prepare for Tomorrow's Impeachment Trial"

Yonhap News

The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (HOCIU) announced on the 20th that it attempted to forcibly summon President Yoon Seok-yeol, but the attempt failed due to the president's refusal to be questioned.

HOCIU stated, "On the afternoon of the 20th, prosecutors and investigators visited Seoul Detention Center to summon and question suspect Yoon Seok-yeol, but the summons was not carried out due to the suspect's continuous refusal to cooperate."

They added, "Accordingly, around 9 p.m., the forced summons was suspended in accordance with human rights protection regulations," and "criminal procedures, including re-forced summons, will be pursued against the suspect."

HOCIU decided to withdraw about six hours after prosecutors and six investigators visited Seoul Detention Center at around 3 p.m. to summon and question President Yoon.

President Yoon, who was arrested on the 15th, refused to comply with HOCIU's summons for questioning on the 16th and 17th, and even after being detained in the early hours of the 19th, he did not respond to two notifications to appear for questioning at 2 p.m. on the same day and 10 a.m. the following day.

With the first detention period (10 days) expected to expire on the 28th, and face-to-face questioning urgently needed, HOCIU decided to attempt a forced summons as President Yoon showed no signs of cooperating, but the attempt failed due to his refusal.

Earlier, HOCIU had stated that it was seriously considering a forced summons as President Yoon did not appear for questioning on that day without any contact.

HOCIU's position, based on laws and Supreme Court precedents, is that if a suspect refuses to appear for questioning, they can be forcibly summoned to the interrogation room under the authority of the detention warrant.

They also explained that even if President Yoon continues to refuse to testify after a forced summons, rendering the interrogation record worthless as evidence, it can still be submitted to the court as part of the case records during prosecution.

In response, President Yoon's legal team stated, "This afternoon, while the lawyers were meeting with the president, HOCIU staff illegally entered the detention center to forcibly summon him," adding, "The lawyers continued their meeting with the president until around 9:30 p.m. to prepare for the impeachment trial, and HOCIU staff waited until around that time before withdrawing."

President Yoon is scheduled to appear at the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial hearing at 2 p.m. on the 21st.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.