Police notified former President Yoon Suk-yeol to appear as a suspect. However, former President Yoon has already failed to respond to the police summons once.
A police special investigation team official stated at a regular briefing on the 9th that they notified former President Yoon to appear on June 5 on the 27th of last month. Former President Yoon did not appear on the 5th, and the police issued a second summons notification for him to appear on the 12th.
A police official noted, "I do not specifically know the reasons why former President Yoon did not respond to the summons." Generally, investigation agencies request the court to issue a warrant for arrest if a suspect refuses a summons without justifiable reasons three times. The police official indicated regarding this possibility, "It is only a second request situation."
This is the first time the police have notified former President Yoon of a summons since the state of emergency declared on 12.3. Previously, in December of last year, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) demanded former President Yoon to appear three times, but he did not comply, and the CIO requested an arrest warrant from the Seoul Western District Court, which was issued.
Former President Yoon was registered on charges of instructing the Presidential Security Service to interfere when the CIO attempted to arrest him (obstruction of special public duties). He was additionally registered on December 7 of last year for the charge of instructing the deletion of information related to a non-secure phone from former Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun, former Army Chief of Defense Lee Jin-woo, and former National Intelligence Service Commander Yeo In-hyung.
The police have mostly completed the analysis of the non-secure phone server obtained voluntarily from the Security Service, as well as the closed-circuit television (CCTV) from the Cabinet meeting area on the day of the emergency declaration. The non-secure phone server contained records of former President Yoon calling Police Chief Jo Ji-ho, former Seoul Police Chief Kim Bong-sik, and military commanders immediately after declaring the emergency.
The police confirmed that information from a non-secure phone belonging to former Intelligence Commander Noh Sang-won, who is suspected of conspiring with former Minister of Defense Kim Yong-hyun to declare a state of emergency, was deleted on December 5 of last year. Although former Commander Noh was a civilian, he was provided a non-secure phone by former Minister Kim.