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Former Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol, who is charged with leading an insurrection, abusing his authority and obstructing the exercise of lawful rights, attends the eighth hearing in his trial at the Seoul Central District Court on June 23. (press pool photograph)

 The special counsel team investigating former first lady Kim Keon-hee unsuccessfully sought to bring former President Yoon Suk-yeol in for questioning.
 
When the special counsel team sought to carry out an arrest warrant at the Seoul Detention Center, where Yoon is being detained, he lay down in his underwear and refused to budge, so investigators simply returned to their office.
 
The former president has abandoned all efforts to save face and is acting like a common crook. It’s getting to the point where Koreans are ashamed over ever having elected such a president.
 
Assistant special counsel Moon Hong-ju, prosecutors, and investigators reporting to special counsel Min Joong-ki went to the Seoul Detention Center and asked Yoon to attend an interrogation session. But Yoon stood his ground, so to speak, by lying down in his underwear and refusing to even get dressed. He would only say, “I cannot go.”
 
The former president was personally reenacting the kind of scene you might see in a gangster movie.
 
During his days as prosecutor general, Yoon used all sorts of fancy language to stress the impartial enforcement of the law. Now that he’s a defendant, however, he seems unwilling to cooperate with the execution of the law, or perhaps he expects the special treatment normally granted to former presidents. One would think he’d feel embarrassed before the voters who elected him.
 
As soon as the special counsel team withdrew, Yoon immediately sought an audience with his legal team. Why would he meet his legal adviser while refusing to acquiesce to the special prosecution’s questioning and declining to participate in the insurrection trial?
 
What’s even more alarming is how the detention center is choosing to act in this situation. Yoon has met with 348 people during his detention, with these meetings lasting more than 395 hours altogether. These meetings exceed the working hours of the detention center, running into the late hours and even taking place on weekends.
 
When Yoon reached the limit for special visits, the detention center decided to allow them to continue after holding a meeting. Yoon’s visitors were also allowed to meet Yoon in the investigation room normally reserved for the police and prosecution.
 
No ordinary detainee could ever dream of receiving such preferential treatment. Kim Hyun-woo, the head of the Seoul Detention Center, needs to explain why Yoon received such privileges and take responsibility.
 
A spokesperson for the special counsel team stated that investigators informed Yoon of their willingness to “execute the arrest warrant through physical force” at the next opportunity.
 
The deadline for the court-issued warrant is Thursday. The special counsel team investigating the former first lady’s various scandals needs to keep trying to bring Yoon in for questioning while also preparing for a scenario in which questioning the former president does not prove feasible.
 
Serious thought should also be given to passing the Special Bill on the Insurrection introduced by the Democratic Party, which would give clemency to anybody, even accomplices in these crimes, who cooperate with investigators or provide information about the martial law scheme or corrupt behavior by the former president and first lady.
 
It’s time to take sterner measures to swiftly bring the insurrectionist forces to justice.
 
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