President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives on the Corruption Investigation Workplace for Excessive-ranking Officers constructing in Gwacheon, Jan. 15. Yonhap
Legislation enforcement officers had been anticipated to conduct an intense grilling of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol to delve into allegations that he was the mastermind behind the Dec. 3 martial regulation try that plunged the nation into an unprecedented political chaos.
The Corruption Investigation Workplace for Excessive-ranking Officers (CIO) started its interrogation of Yoon at 11 a.m. Wednesday, hours after it succeeded in executing the courtroom warrant to detain him following a thwarted try earlier this month.
The CIO could have as much as 48 hours to query Yoon below the warrant issued for his short-term pretrial detention, earlier than it decides whether or not to hunt his arrest, a step it’s broadly anticipated to take as soon as the interrogation ends.
The interrogation, with over 200 pages of questions ready, is predicted to concentrate on substantiating key allegations surrounding the failed martial regulation imposition, starting from the planning levels main as much as the occasion to its execution on the day.
The CIO has been investigating Yoon for actions that will quantity to rebellion, abuse of energy and different prices.
On the middle of the allegations is the query of whether or not Yoon ordered the navy and police to tug a handful of lawmakers out of the Nationwide Meeting constructing on the night time he declared martial regulation and arrest them.
Prosecutors suspect Yoon made the order to lock down parliament to stop opposition lawmakers from getting into the compound to vote to cease the martial regulation.
The indictment towards the now-arrested former Protection Minister Kim Yong-hyun exhibits the prosecution alleging that Yoon ordered the capital protection commander to „shoot if obligatory, break the home windows and drag them out.“
Yoon is suspected of getting named the politicians that they need to arrest. Nationwide Meeting Speaker Woo Received-shik, Democratic Occasion of Korea chief Lee Jae-myung and Han Dong-hoon, the then chief of the ruling Individuals Energy Occasion, had been allegedly among the many checklist.
A automobile carrying President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives on the Corruption Investigation Workplace for Excessive-ranking Officers constructing in Gwacheon, Jan. 15. Yonhap
Prosecutors have secured a sworn statement from Hong Jang-won, one of many deputy spy chiefs on the time, claiming that Yoon instructed him over the cellphone to „spherical all people up.“
Navy officers questioned by the prosecution have mentioned that they had been instructed to arrest 14 key figures and maintain them at an underground bunker close to the Capital Protection Command in southwestern Seoul.
The CIO can also be prone to query Yoon to find out whether or not he deployed the navy to grab the primary community servers on the Nationwide Election Fee over what Yoon has known as „election fraud“ — one of many causes he cited for imposing martial regulation.
The CIO believes Yoon sought to ascertain a unprecedented legislature to exchange the opposition-controlled parliament that has blocked him from pursuing his agenda. It suspects that Yoon additionally thought of imposing one other martial regulation after the Meeting voted to elevate the order.
Prosecutors had been anticipated to press Yoon to learn how he orchestrated the martial regulation from the beginning.
The opposition events have alleged that Yoon mentioned martial regulation plans with Kim, the previous protection minister, and Yeo In-hyung, the counterintelligence commander, as early as in August final yr.
The CIO is predicted to query Yoon about how the martial regulation decree was drafted. The decree banned political actions by parliament and events, a clause that has been criticized by the opposition and critics as a violation of the Structure.
Suspicions over whether or not Yoon lawfully proceeded with the martial regulation declaration can even probably be a key focus of the interrogation.
Beneath the Structure, the president is entitled to declare a state of emergency throughout wartime or a nationwide emergency or disaster equal to such conditions. Critics have argued that Yoon’s martial regulation didn’t meet these requirements.
Yoon has justified his martial regulation as a measure to defend the nation from „anti-state forces“ which can be plundering the nation’s freedom and to guard the constitutional order.
The CIO suspects that Yoon’s resolution was meant to paralyze the features of the Meeting to be able to relieve the political strain he was going through from opposition events.
Yoon wanted a Cupboard evaluate and two-thirds approval from his Cupboard members to be able to declare the martial regulation.
By means of questioning the ministers who attended the Dec. 3 Cupboard assembly, the CIO has decided that Yoon didn’t inform them upfront concerning the function of the assembly, solely notifying them on the spot that he can be declaring martial regulation shortly. (Yonhap)
