South Korea’s Yoon skips questioning again over martial law

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol again declined to appear for questioning by investigators over his martial law declaration as the embattled leader seeks to first defend himself at an impeachment trial.  

Yoon didn’t appear for scheduled questioning by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials on Wednesday morning, a week after he skipped the investigators’ initial request, Yonhap News reported. A Yoon representative did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment. 

The president’s decision to repeatedly avoid questioning may initially delay proceedings against him, but it also raises the chances that he could be arrested. It was not immediately clear if the CIO would send a third summons or seek an arrest warrant. 

Oh Dong-woon, head of the CIO, said at a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday that the corruption watchdog had yet to decide whether to seek a warrant for Yoon if he didn’t voluntarily show up for questioning. 

South Korea’s parliament voted earlier this month to impeach Yoon, suspending the president from his duties over his shock declaration of martial law. Yoon has vowed to never stop defending himself, signaling his intent to fight in court to retain his job and contending that his martial law decree was within his constitutional powers.  

Even if Yoon is eventually removed from power, either as a result of the investigation or the impeachment trial, a delayed outcome could leave opposition leader Lee Jae-myung ineligible to stand for election if an unrelated corruption verdict against him is confirmed.

A Yoon representative earlier said the president’s priority is to explain his stance to the judges at the Constitutional Court, according to Yonhap, as the court prepares to hold a preliminary hearing on his impeachment on Friday. 

Seok Dong-hyeon, a representative of Yoon, said last week that the president was open to appearing in a court trial to determine the validity of his impeachment and remained confident that his brief declaration of martial law was not an act of insurrection. 

If Yoon stands in court himself, he’d be the first president to do so among three who have been impeached in South Korea’s history.

Political pressure is building in South Korea for the constitutional justices to formally remove Yoon, whose martial law declaration was the first such order in more than 40 years. Yoon retracted his decree hours later after the National Assembly voted it down.