South Korea's ousted president has again refused to be questioned by investigators in the case over the December declaration of martial law, with just hours left before an arrest warrant expires.
Yoon Suk-yeol, the first sitting South Korean head of state to be detained, plunged the country into a serious political crisis by declaring martial law in early December to protect South Korea from "North Korean communist forces" and "eliminate elements hostile to the state."
Investigators are seeking a 20-day extension of the leader's detention, after the 48-hour arrest warrant expires, to allow for formal charges against Yoon.
"The CIO [the Office for the Investigation of Corruption among Senior Officials] is expected to apply to the Seoul Western District Court for an arrest warrant as the next step after the warrant is issued," Yoon's lawyers said today.
The CIO summoned Yoon for questioning at 10 a.m. local time (0100 GMT), the Yonhap state news agency reported, but lawyer Yun Gap-geun told Agence France-Presse that the ousted president would refuse to appear for a second day in a row.
Another lawyer for Yoon, Seok Dong-hyeon, told reporters that Yoon had already explained his position on the events to investigators and that he had no reason to answer questions.
Ousted by the National Assembly, South Korea's parliament and under investigation for sedition, a crime punishable by death, the former prosecutor was questioned for hours on Wednesday but exercised his right to remain silent before refusing to appear for questioning on Thursday.
Yoon said he had agreed to the investigators' demands to avoid any "bloodshed" but that he did not recognize the legality of the investigation.
The Democratic Party, the main opposition political party, welcomed Yoon's arrest, describing it as a "first step" toward restoring constitutional and legal order after weeks of unrest.
