The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province (Yonhap)
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province (Yonhap)

GWACHEON, Gyeonggi Province -- Controversy ensued Tuesday over the anti-corruption agency's attempt to force President Yoon Suk Yeol to comply with interrogation on Monday. The president, arrested Sunday, has refused to appear for further questioning.

Rep. Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of Yoon’s ruling People Power Party, on Tuesday denounced the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, the lead agency of the joint team investigating the president, saying the agency was crossing the line.

"The CIO's forced summons is nothing more than an attempt to humiliate the president," said Rep. Kwon, emphasizing that it has little to do with advancing the agency's investigation. He noted that the key figures behind Yoon’s failed attempt to impose martial law have already been formally arrested, while Yoon remains silent.

Some within the legal community have expressed concern that forcing the president to comply with interrogation seems irrational.

It was the first time a law enforcement agency sought a forced summons of a sitting president.

Former presidents had investigators or prosecutors visiting them for interrogation after they were indicted. Former President Lee Myung-bak refused questioning while he was detained.

Amid such concerns, the CIO said it had no plans to bring the president in for the interrogation Tuesday morning, a few hours before Yoon headed to the Constitutional Court.

“The agency found it difficult to forcibly bring Yoon (in for questioning) in the morning as he was expected to speak at the impeachment trial scheduled at 2 p.m.,” the CIO official told reporters in a press briefing at its headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.

On Monday afternoon, the CIO dispatched six investigators to the Seoul Detention Center, where Yoon has been held since his arrest on Jan. 15, to exercise a forced summons and interrogate him over his martial law declaration. But, the investigators withdrew after a six-hour standoff with Yoon’s lawyers, who refused the questioning. Ahead of the standoff, The CIO instructed the detention center to ban all correspondence involving Yoon over concerns he might destroy evidence.

The formal arrest warrant authorizes the CIO to detain the president for up to 20 days. During that time, the agency can facilitate interrogation and refer the case to the prosecution, which has the authority to charge a sitting president with insurrection.

The CIO and the prosecution service tentatively agreed to split the 20-day detention period into two 10-day phases, but an earlier transfer of the case is being discussed, according to the CIO official.

“Though the agency leaves the door open to possible questioning at the prison, it does not consider questioning in writing at the moment,” the official added.