The pre-arrest interrogation of former President Yoon Suk-yeol regarding allegations of abuse of power and other charges concluded on the 9th after about 6 hours and 40 minutes. Former President Yoon will be moved to the Seoul Detention Center and await the court's decision on whether to issue an arrest warrant. This marks his return to the Seoul Detention Center four months after being released following a court decision to cancel his arrest on March 8.
On the same day, Director General Nam Se-jin of the Seoul Central District Court conducted the hearing on the arrest warrant requested by the special investigation team for insurrection against former President Yoon from 2:15 p.m. to 9:01 p.m.
This is the second time former President Yoon has undergone a detention hearing related to the December 3 martial law. He also personally attended the detention hearing on January 18, when the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) requested an arrest warrant on charges of insurrection leader. At that time, the hearing lasted for 4 hours and 50 minutes, and the court issued a warrant, leading to former President Yoon's detention. Subsequently, on March 8, the court decided to cancel the arrest, allowing former President Yoon to be released while awaiting trial.
Earlier, the special investigation team filed an arrest warrant for former President Yoon on the 6th for allegations of abuse of power, forgery of official documents, and obstruction of special public duties. The 66-page warrant request reportedly includes allegations against President Yoon for instructing the Security Office to hinder arrests, directing the deletion of communications records, obstructing the exercise of rights of cabinet members who could not attend the Cabinet meeting, and preparing and destroying the post-declaration statement for martial law.
On that day, 10 members participated in the interrogation from the special investigation team, including Special Prosecutor Park Eok-soo and Director General Kim Jeong-guk and Jo Jae-cheol. Seven attorneys represented former President Yoon, including Choi Ji-woo, Song Jin-ho, Chae Myung-seong, Bae Bo-yun, Yoo Jeong-hwa, Kim Hong-il, and Kim Gye-ri.
The special investigation team reportedly prepared and presented a PowerPoint with 178 slides. They asserted that the statements made by former Presidential Secretary-General Kang Ui-gu and Vice Administrator Kim Seong-hoon before the special investigation team changed compared to their statements made at the Prosecutor’s special investigation headquarters for the martial law, due to the intervention of former President Yoon's attorneys. Consequently, they emphasized the need to detain former President Yoon, citing concerns over evidence destruction.
In response, former President Yoon's team argued that there were no grounds for detention, invoking Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Act. Article 208 states that individuals who have been detained and then released cannot be re-detained for the same criminal facts, except in cases where important new evidence is discovered. Former President Yoon's side stated, "The actions related to obstructing cabinet deliberations, forgery of official documents, public relations through foreign news spokespeople, and communications records associated with the secret phone are relevant to the insurrection allegations and constitute grounds for restricting re-detention." It is said that former President Yoon made his closing statement personally for 20 minutes at the end of the hearing.
Former President Yoon will remain at the Seoul Detention Center as he awaits the court's decision on whether to issue an arrest warrant. The court is expected to make its decision as early as that night, and no later than early on the 10th.