Overview

• Yoon Suk Yeol defied a special counsel team’s effort at Seoul Detention Center on Aug. 1 by removing his prison uniform and lying on the cell floor in his underwear.
• Assistant special counsel Oh Jeong-hee said the court-issued warrant empowered investigators to escort Yoon for questioning over alleged influence-peddling tied to his and his wife’s intervention in 2022 candidate nominations.
• Investigators halted the roughly two-hour operation to avoid potential safety incidents but informed Yoon they plan to employ force during the next execution of the warrant.
• Yoon’s lawyers cited his cardiovascular, autonomic nervous system and eye conditions, including a risk of blindness, as grounds for contesting the detention and questioning.
• The warrant was issued Thursday after Yoon twice ignored summonses and comes on the heels of his April removal over a failed martial law decree and ongoing probes into rebellion and power abuse.