Oh Dong-woon, the chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, speaks to the reporters at the government complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. (Yonhap)
Oh Dong-woon, the chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, speaks to the reporters at the government complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. (Yonhap)

Oh Dong-woon, the chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, said Wednesday that his officials will attempt to force President Yoon Suk Yeol to comply with interrogation related to his Dec. 3 martial law declaration and the subsequent orders.

Oh said that the CIO will once again attempt to force Yoon to comply with a summons. The impeached president has been refusing to appear for questioning since his arrest on Jan. 15.

Yoon was questioned by the CIO on the day of his arrest, but stayed silent throughout an interrogation that lasted for more than 10 hours.

"President Yoon must respect the decision of the court. ... (Yoon) is refusing the summons, so we have no choice but to forcibly bring him in," he said, addressing the reporters at the government complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, while on his way to the CIO headquarters. "If (Yoon's side) has objections, they can appeal within the boundaries of the law."

Yoon is under criminal investigation and facing an impeachment trial for what are believed to be illegal orders to high-ranking military and police officials. The alleged orders include preventing the National Assembly from gathering and the arrest prominent political figures -- including leaders of both ruling and main opposition parties, and Parliamentary Speaker Woo Won-shik.

Yoon appeared at the hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday, and denied giving such arrest orders and claimed that the martial law command deploying troops to the National Assembly was not intended to obstruct the parliamentary vote to lift the law.

He claimed that he never intended to carry out the martial law decree, saying it was "merely a formal procedure," the purpose of which was to appeal to the people.

The next hearing of the ongoing impeachment trial will be held Thursday, with testimony from Kim Yong-hyun, Yoon's longtime confidant, who was defense minister at the time of the martial law. Kim has been placed under arrest and is being investigated for his part in the alleged insurrection, as are several of the high-ranking military commanders and National Police Agency Chief Cho Ji-ho.

The hearing scheduled for Feb. 4 will feature testimonies of Capital Defense Command chief Lee Jin-woo, Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyeong, suspected followers of Yoon's alleged insurrection. Both of them have been placed under arrest.

Hong Jang-won, who has resigned as first deputy director of the National Intelligence Agency, is also slated to make an appearance at the February hearing. He was the first to reveal that Yoon had ordered the arrest of major political figures, in an interview with a lawmaker.