Seoul, Dec 17 (EFE).- South Korean prosecutors have sent a second summons for President Yoon Suk-yeol to testify in the probe into his martial law declaration earlier this month, and warned that if he does not appear before Saturday, they will consider requesting an arrest warrant.
The special team investigating the events of Dec. 3 sent the summons on Monday, Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday, citing sources close to the matter.
The second request was sent after the president did not appear on Sunday for a first appointment to be questioned on charges of alleged insurrection and abuse of power by the prosecutors, who had sent him the summons on Dec. 11.
If Yoon attends the appointment, he will be the first South Korean president to appear before investigators while still in office. Likewise, if the prosecutors decide to request an arrest warrant, the president could end up being the first sitting head of state in the Asian country to be arrested.
Yoon was impeached on Saturday by parliament with the votes of at least 12 lawmakers from his ruling conservative People Power Party (PPP) party, and his duties are now being exercised on an interim basis by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.
However, his future now depends on the decision of the Constitutional Court, which has a maximum of six months to determine whether the president violated the Constitution by implementing martial law and whether, therefore, his dismissal should be ratified or he should be reinstated.
The court has asked Yoon to provide written answers by next Monday ahead of his impeachment trial, which will begin with a first hearing on Dec. 27, Yonhap reported.
Meanwhile, a t team made up of the police, the anti-corruption agency and a defense ministry investigation unit that is also investigating Yoon, sent the president a summons yesterday to appear for questioning on Wednesday.
Yoon, who has been banned from leaving the country along with other of his Cabinet – such as former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun, who remains in pretrial detention – as well as senior military and police officials are being investigated for alleged crimes of mutiny, abuse of power and insurrection.
The latter is the most serious accusation and could also lead to Yoon’s arrest, since not even presidential immunity prevails in cases of insurrection, a crime that carries life imprisonment or the death penalty (on which there has been a moratorium in South Korea since 1997). EFE
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