'Re-detained' Yoon Refuses Special Prosecutor's Summons Again... Forced Appearance Likely

Yoon's Side: "No Change in the Situation"
Previously Refused First Summons Citing 'Health Reasons'
May Also Refuse Forced Appearance Citing 'Meeting with Legal Counsel'

Former President Yoon Sukyeol refused to comply with the second summons from Cho Eunseok's special investigation team on insurrection charges on July 14.

Former President Yoon Sukyeol is heading to Seoul Detention Center after completing the second pre-arrest suspect hearing (warrant review) held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on July 9, 2025. Photo by Joint Press Corps

On this day, Yoon's legal counsel stated, "We submitted a statement of non-attendance for today's appearance, as we did last time, and to our knowledge, there have been no changes in the situation."

The special investigation team had demanded that Yoon appear at their office in the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office at 2 p.m. on July 11, the day after his detention, for questioning. However, Yoon submitted a statement of non-attendance citing 'health reasons' and did not comply.

After verifying Yoon's health status through Seoul Detention Center, the team determined there were no issues with proceeding with an in-person investigation and rescheduled the questioning for this day, notifying Yoon accordingly.

The special investigation team is expected to move to Seoul Detention Center today to attempt to bring Yoon in by force.

The team's position is that, based on Supreme Court precedents, if a suspect refuses to appear for questioning, they can be forcibly brought to the investigation room under the authority of the detention warrant. However, there are also observations that, in reality, it is not easy to bring someone in by force.

Yoon may also refuse to be brought in by force on the grounds of meeting with his legal counsel. It has been reported that Yoon has been meeting with his lawyers since this morning.

Previously, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which arrested and detained Yoon, also attempted to forcibly bring him in and conduct on-site investigations three times in January, but all attempts failed as Yoon refused on the grounds of meeting with his legal counsel.