The special investigation team led by Cho Eun-seok informed former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who refused to attend the first interrogation following his re-arrest, that the investigation schedule has been rescheduled for the afternoon of the 14th. However, it has been reported that the former president's attendance is still uncertain.
According to the legal community on the 12th, the legal team representing the former president plans to visit him at the Seoul detention center on the morning of the 14th, when the special investigation team demanded his attendance, to confirm his willingness to cooperate. However, it remains uncertain whether the former president will comply with the second attendance request, as he is reportedly suffering from health issues due to diabetes and psychological shock. Additionally, it is reported that the former president's team is contemplating filing a petition for a review of the detention.
Earlier, on the 10th, the special investigation team notified the re-arrested former president that the first interrogation would take place at 2 p.m. on the 11th following the issuance of an arrest warrant by the court. However, the former president submitted a notice of absence and did not appear, resulting in the investigation not occurring.
As the former president shows signs of reluctance to cooperate with the investigation, the tension with the special investigation team continues. Notably, the special investigation team is said to be considering the 'compulsory summons' card even after the former president's arrest.
In a briefing the previous day, special investigator Park Ji-young stated, "If the absence is deemed reasonable, it would be a different matter; otherwise, we will proceed according to the procedures of the criminal procedure law," adding, "Detention includes both imprisonment and summons, and in that context, we are considering the next steps."
Additionally, Park noted regarding the possibility of conducting an investigation visit to the detention center, considering the precedents of former presidents, that "fundamentally, we are adhering to the principle of summoning," and "we are not planning any visits at the detention center."
In 2017, just four days after the arrest of former President Park Geun-hye, prosecutors visited the Seoul detention center to conduct an investigation. In the case of former President Lee Myung-bak, prosecutors attempted three visits for an investigation, but all were declined, and they failed to conduct face-to-face questioning.
Especially as the special investigation team maintains a 'hardline strategy,' there is speculation that if the former president also refuses the second investigation, they may resort to compulsory summons. It has been reported that the special investigation team is considering prosecuting the former president on charges related to foreign exchange, in addition to the crimes specified in the arrest warrant. It is necessary to conduct comprehensive investigations through face-to-face questioning.
In the previous day's briefing, Park responded to a question about whether investigations outside the content of the warrant's criminal facts are possible by stating, "The circumstances, motivations, and subsequent actions leading to the warrant's criminal facts are all interconnected," and that "since it may constitute other criminal facts, investigations into that part will naturally take place."
Some speculate that even if the former president is forcibly summoned for questioning, he might exercise his right to refuse testimony, which is seen as a so-called 'stalling' strategy. This is the reason for the anticipated difficulties in the foreign exchange investigation.
Currently, the special investigation team is also investigating whether the former president directly ordered the military drone operation command to deploy drones over Pyongyang around October last year, possibly as a pretext for declaring a state of emergency, or whether the military was systematically involved in covering it up.
The special investigation team is reported to have continuously interrogated military personnel, including pilots who worked at the unit known to have launched the drones sent to North Korea and officials from the Agency for Defense Development (ADD). During this process, some military personnel reportedly testified that there were orders from superiors to create a false appearance of the drones flying domestically and handling them as lost to conceal the fact of sending them to North Korea.