Detained South Korea’s Yoon will not attend questioning, lawyer says

(Reuters)

SEOUL, Jan 16 – South Korea’s arrested President Yoon Suk Yeol does not intend to take part in a second day of questioning on Thursday, his lawyer said, further stonewalling a criminal probe into whether he committed insurrection with his martial law bid.

Yoon, the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested, was taken to the Seoul Detention Centre on Wednesday evening after refusing to cooperate, where he was expected to have spent the night in a solitary cell.

Authorities have 48 hours to question the suspended president, after which they must release him or seek a warrant to detain him for up to 20 days.

Yoon’s refusal to cooperate with investigators comes as the Constitutional Court is due to hold a second hearing in his impeachment trial to determine whether to remove him permanently or reinstate his presidential powers.

South Korea is grappling with its worst political crisis in decades, sparked by Yoon’s brief attempt to impose martial law on Dec. 3 that was voted down by parliament.

Yoon’s arrest on Wednesday ended a weeks-long standoff with authorities after police swooped before dawn on his fortified hillside villa in Seoul to the despair of followers at the site.

Yoon said he turned himself in for questioning by corruption investigation officials to prevent what he called the risk of “unsavoury bloodshed”, though he continued to protest that it was an illegal investigation and invalid arrest warrant.