Wearing only an undershirt and boxer shorts, former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol lay on the floor of his prison cell and refused to comply with a fresh arrest warrant on Friday – the latest twist in a deepening investigation into his alleged abuse of power.
Although Yoon is already in custody on separate charges related to his attempt to impose martial law in December, prosecutors were required to obtain and serve a new warrant to formally begin questioning him in a separate case involving his wife, Kim Keon-hee.
A team of special prosecutors attempted to execute the court-issued warrant but were forced to abandon the effort after Yoon refused to cooperate, Assistant Special Prosecutor Oh Jeong-hee told reporters.
“The special prosecutors urged him to voluntarily comply with the arrest warrant, taking into account his status as a former president,” Oh said. “But the suspect persistently refused, remaining on the floor and declining to put on his prison uniform.”
The team repeated its request four times over 20- to 30-minute intervals before halting the operation after two hours, fearing that using physical force might result in unintended harm, she explained.
“During the process, the suspect was informed that the next attempt to execute the warrant would proceed even with the use of physical force,” Oh added.
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