South Korea: Special counsel notifies ex-President Yoon to appear for questioning next week

Seoul, Sep 20 (IANS) A South Korean special counsel team on Saturday notified ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol to appear for questioning next week over allegations related to his failed martial law bid.

Special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team said it issued the summons to Yoon to appear for questioning at the Seoul High Prosecutors Office on Wednesday.

The team is expected to question Yoon on charges of whether he incited foreign aggression by ordering a drone dispatch to Pyongyang in October ahead of his short-lived declaration of martial law in December.

It would be the first time investigators attempt to question him over the allegation of inciting foreign aggression.

Yoon, who has been in custody since July, has been standing trial on charges of leading an insurrection and abusing his power through the martial law bid.

It remains unclear whether Yoon would appear, as he has refused to cooperate with the special counsel's probe and attend his insurrection trial since July.

The team suspects Yoon of giving direct orders to the Drone Operations Command to dispatch drones to Pyongyang in an attempt to provoke North Korean military responses and allegedly create a pretext for the martial law imposition.

Former drone command chief Maj. Gen. Kim Yong-dae, ex-Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo and Lt. Gen. Lee Seung-oh, the JCS operations chief, have already been questioned over the allegations.

The commanders have denied any link between the drone dispatch and Yoon's martial law, arguing the operations were part of response measures to the North's balloon campaigns against the South.

The team also plans to question former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who is currently in custody at the Seoul Eastern Detention Centre on charges of insurrection, officials said.

Yoon's legal team claimed that the notice was delivered via text message to one of Yoon's lawyers assigned to a different case involving the former president. The team also said it was also busy preparing for upcoming court hearings scheduled for next week, Yonhap news agency reported.

"The summons investigation must be carried out lawfully and in accordance with due process through an official written notice, and once we receive the notice, we will review whether to comply with the questioning," Yoon's team said in a statement.

--IANS

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