Former President Yoon Summoned Again, This Time as 'Ringleader of Insurrection'

[Anchor]

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison in the first trial for treason yesterday (June 12), has been summoned by the special counsel team again just one day later. This time, he is appearing as a suspect on charges of being the "ringleader of an insurrection."

Kim Deok-hyeon reports.

[Reporter]

The special counsel team's second round of questioning for former President Yoon Suk Yeol began at 10:00 a.m. today.

It has been one week since his first summons last week, and the charge under investigation is insurrection under the Military Criminal Act.

This charge applies when soldiers carry weapons and incite an insurrection; the legal penalty for the ringleader of such an act is death.

The special counsel team believes that during the December 3 insurrection, former President Yoon conspired with former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, former Army Chief of Staff Park An-su, and others to send armed soldiers to the National Assembly and other locations to incite a riot.

While the crime of insurrection generally applies to military personnel, the special counsel team maintains that non-military personnel who conspire with soldiers can also be punished.

Previously, the special counsel team questioned former Minister Kim as a suspect in the insurrection case on the 4th.

Former President Yoon's side argues that this is an abuse of investigative power and amounts to "double jeopardy."

[Song Jin-ho / Defense Attorney for former President Yoon: The investigation was already completed through the treason charges. Isn't the President the commander-in-chief of the military? The charge of insurrection cannot be established. It is an utterly absurd claim.]

During the questioning, the special counsel team re-examined the overall situation during the December 3 insurrection, including when and how former President Yoon intended to end the emergency martial law. It is reported that former President Yoon denied the charges, maintaining that the martial law declaration was legal.

Based on today's questioning, the special counsel team plans to review the legal aspects before deciding whether to indict former President Yoon. It is reported that they are also considering adding the insurrection charge to the existing indictment through an amendment to the bill of indictment, rather than filing a separate case.

In addition to the charge of being the ringleader of an insurrection, the special counsel team also questioned former President Yoon as a witness regarding allegations that the Joint Chiefs of Staff, including former Chairman Kim Myung-soo, participated in the insurrection.

(Video Editing: Choi Hye-young, Design: Park Tae-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.