A defining week lies ahead for the special counsel team investigating former first lady Kim Keon Hee as it plans to make another attempt to execute the warrant to arrest jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol and bring him in for questioning, following Friday's failed attempt. The team also plans to summon the former first lady for questioning on Wednesday.
Yoon, who was already detained as another special counsel investigates major charges that include abuse of power and production of false documents, refused to comply with the special counsel’s warrant.
According to Assistant Special Counsel Oh Jung-hee, Yoon strongly resisted arrest by lying on the floor of his detention cell, not wearing his prison uniform.
Though the special counsel team refrained from making physical contact due to safety concerns and called off the first attempt to execute the warrant, it warned Yoon that the team would follow through on the next attempt “even if it requires the use of physical force.”
The special counsel team's court-issued warrant is set to expire on Thursday, raising speculation that the team will reattempt to arrest Yoon as early as Monday.
If Yoon is brought in for questioning after his arrest, it will mark the former president’s first public appearance since July 10, when he was taken into custody at the Seoul Detention Center over evidence-tampering concerns. He has since refused to attend either special counsel summonses or criminal hearings.
Meanwhile, Yoon’s obstruction of the first attempt to arrest him for questioning has sparked controversy.
Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho lambasted Yoon for behaving in “an utterly embarrassing and bizarre manner.”
“We express regret that Yoon obstructed the execution of the warrant as a civilian," Jung said in his social media post Saturday.
"He engaged in behavior that is hardly believable for someone who is a former prosecutor, prosecutor general and president. ... No more shame should be inflicted on the public,” the minister added.
But Kim Kye-ri, one of Yoon’s legal representatives, insisted that the special counsel team was engaged in “political propaganda and a witch hunt,” instead of conducting its investigation.
“The special counsel team disclosed explicit details that would be considered inappropriate even in a private conversation. It claimed that such information was the public’s right to know, but these details were unrelated to the facts of the case and went beyond the scope of the public’s right to know,” Kim said in her social media post.
Another attorney reportedly claimed that the special counsel’s briefing was a public mockery of the suspect and a measure that severely damaged a person’s social reputation.
The special counsel team is also scheduled to investigate former first lady Kim on Wednesday, a little over a month after the team was officially launched on July 2.
Over the past month, the team conducted multiple search and seizure operations, and has summoned individuals — ranging from sitting lawmakers, a pollster, a shaman and a religious figure to former and current company CEOs — as part of their probe into 16 allegations involving the former first lady.
Assistant Special Counsel Moon Hong-joo previously announced that the special counsel team plans to look into the former first lady’s alleged involvement in influence-peddling in the 2022 by-elections, a bribery case, and stock price manipulation involving Sambu Construction and imported car dealer Deutsch Motors.
Kim’s attorney announced in mid-July that the former first lady will cooperate with the special counsel investigation.
If Kim decides to comply with Wednesday’s summons, she will become the first former first lady to appear for questioning by a special counsel as a suspect.
Lee Soon-ja, the wife of former President Chun Doo-hwan, and Kwon Yang-sook, the wife of former President Roh Moo-hyun, were previously summoned by the prosecution in 2004 and 2009, respectively. But they were summoned as persons of interest and did not appear in public.
sj_lee@heraldcorp.com
