The embattled leader fails to appear for questioning for the second time in a week over the short-lived declaration of martial law.
Indicted South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has defied a summons for questioning over his short-lived declaration of martial law for the second time in a week.
Yoon failed to appear for questioning on suspicion of insurrection and abuse of power after he was ordered to go to the senior officials’ corruption investigation office in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Yoon had previously failed to respond to a separate summons from prosecutors on December 15.
Yoon, who was the country’s top prosecutor before entering politics, has been suspended from his duties since December 14. when the National Assembly voted 204 to 85 to remove him from office.
Korea’s Constitutional Court is currently deliberating whether to grant the request and remove Yoon from office, a move that must be approved by at least six of nine judges.
The court has scheduled its first public hearing on the matter for December 27 and it could take up to six months to issue its ruling.
If Yoon’s removal is confirmed, new elections would be held within two months.
Yoon’s brief declaration of martial law on December 4 stunned South Korea and plunged the country into its worst political crisis in decades.
Yoon, who said the statement was aimed at combating “anti-state forces,” defended his actions as lawful and vowed to “face the investigation against him fairly.”
