The special counsel investigating insurrection said on the 23rd that former President Yoon Suk-yeol has conveyed that he will not appear for questioning related to the "suspected deployment of North Korean drones," which is scheduled for the 24th.
At a press briefing that day, Special Counsel Deputy Park Ji-young said, "As of now, no written statement of nonappearance has been submitted for the former president," and added, "However, I understand that, verbally, the former president conveyed his intention not to appear to the prison official."
Park went on to say, "We will see tomorrow whether he ultimately does not appear and then review whether to summon him again."
The special counsel is investigating foreign exchange crimes, including whether the former president directly ordered the Drone Operations Command in Oct. last year to send unmanned aerial vehicles into Pyongyang to create a pretext for declaring martial law. The special counsel has previously summoned and questioned military officials in connection with this.
However, this is reportedly the first time the special counsel has summoned the former president in connection with the foreign exchange allegations. Even when the special counsel indicted the former president in Jul., the indictment did not include foreign exchange charges.
Earlier, the former president's legal team issued a statement after the special counsel's summons notice, saying, "The notice was sent by text message to an attorney who was not retained for the (foreign exchange case)," and added, "A summons must be proper and by the book via a mailed written notice, and after receiving the notice we will consider whether to comply with the questioning."