(LEAD) 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)

(LEAD) ex-president-special counsel

(LEAD) 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 before investigators executed a warrant to bring him in by force.

The jailed former president is currently in a waiting room at special counsel Cho Eun-suk's office to be questioned about allegations related to his failed imposition of martial law, assistant special counsel Park Ji-young said during a press briefing.

Until Wednesday, Yoon had ignored all summonses by special counsel teams investigating various allegations surrounding him and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, following his second arrest in July.

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 am. 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 incited foreign aggression by ordering 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.

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.

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