On the 24th, the special investigation team for insurrection requested an arrest warrant for former President Yoon Suk-yeol from the court. An arrest warrant can be issued when a crime suspect fails to respond to a request from an investigative agency.
The special investigation team noted in a press release that “an arrest warrant for former President Yoon was requested around 5:50 p.m. at the Seoul Central District Court on charges of obstruction of special duties, abuse of authority, and solicitation of abuse of authority under the Presidential Security Act.”
The special investigation team added, “Former President Yoon has refused the police's requests to appear on two occasions and clearly indicated his intention not to respond to subsequent summonses, including on the 19th, after the investigation began on June 18.”
They further stated, “We received the case from the police on June 23, and considering the continuity of the case, we decided to request the arrest warrant for the investigation of the suspect.”
Park Ji-young, the Deputy Special Prosecutor, said in a press briefing that “the arrest warrant for former President Yoon is a request for investigation. He is just one of several suspects,” and “all other suspects have been investigated, and he is the only one who has not responded to the investigation.”
Deputy Prosecutor Park noted, “The special investigation team is expected to conduct rigorously by law due to the time limit on the investigation and the anticipated investigation of various matters,” and added, “If the arrest warrant is issued, we will announce it immediately.”
Former President Yoon is facing allegations of instructing obstruction of the execution of an arrest warrant against him (obstruction of special duties and abuse of authority). He is also accused of attempting to destroy evidence by instructing military commanders to delete sensitive information from the Presidential Security Service (solicitation of abuse of authority under the Presidential Security Act). This allegation is separate from the insurrection leader charges for which he is already indicted and undergoing first trial.
Previously, the police notified former President Yoon of a summons investigation three times to investigate these allegations; however, he refused to comply with all of them.