(3rd LD) Ex-President Yoon voluntarily appears for questioning before warrant execution

▲ Former President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the first hearing of his second trial on martial law-related charges at the Seoul Central District Court in the capital in this Sept. 26, 2025, file photo. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

(3rd LD) ex-president-special counsel

(3rd LD) Ex-President Yoon voluntarily appears for questioning before warrant execution

(ATTN: UPDATES with details)

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- Former President Yoon Suk Yeol voluntarily appeared before a special counsel team Wednesday and underwent questioning before investigators executed a warrant to bring him in by force.

The jailed former president was interrogated at special counsel Cho Eun-suk's office about allegations related to his failed imposition of martial law, assistant special counsel Park Ji-young said during a press briefing.

He did not respond to any questions, however, exercising his right to remain silent.

"Former President Yoon Suk Yeol stated his position fully during the first and second rounds of questioning with regard to key questions from the special counsel, and is refusing to testify in response to all further questions," his lawyers said in a notice to the press.

Yoon was questioned twice in June and July, before he was placed under arrest a second time on July 10. Between then and Wednesday, he had ignored all summonses by special counsel teams investigating various allegations surrounding him and his wife, Kim Keon Hee.

Park said his appearance came after a court issued a warrant for his detention on Oct. 1, and the team ordered its execution to the Seoul Detention Center, where he is held, the next day.

"The Seoul Detention Center was scheduled to execute the detention warrant at around 8 a.m. today in consideration of his trial schedule," she said. "When the prison officer informed him in advance of the warrant issuance and plans to execute it, former President Yoon stated his intention to appear voluntarily and the warrant execution did not take place."

The special counsel team had summoned Yoon twice to be questioned on Sept. 24 and Sept. 30 regarding allegations he ordered the dispatch of drones to North Korea last October to incite its retaliation and use it as justification for his future declaration of martial law.

Yoon imposed martial law on Dec. 3 but withdrew it hours later after the National Assembly voted to repeal it.

The former president has been standing two separate trials over his martial law bid, with one of them covering charges of leading an insurrection and abusing his power.

The special counsel team is expected to additionally indict him on charges of inciting foreign aggression through the drone dispatch.

"We are aiming to indict him this month if possible, but it's hard to say definitively," Park said, citing delays in the investigation due to the reluctance of Yoon and others involved to testify.

In a statement to the press, Yoon's lawyers said the former president chose to appear voluntarily on Wednesday to "ease the burden" of prison officers after learning of their "great distress" during a previous attempt to detain him in August.

They also claimed the special counsel team requested the detention warrant unilaterally in violation of the basic principles of lawful procedures.

"At around 7:30 a.m. today, prison officers attempted to suddenly execute the warrant before the suspect had a chance to wash his face, but in order to not impose a burden on them, the suspect put on his clothes and appeared voluntarily without even washing his face," they said.

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