South Korea: Authorities Interrogate Acting President Han in Martial Law Investigation
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Seoul, Dec 21 (NationPress) South Korean authorities have stated that they have interrogated acting President Han Duck-soo concerning his involvement in President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed attempt to enforce martial law earlier this month.
Han was one of nine individuals the police mentioned they had questioned about their presence at a Cabinet meeting hosted by Yoon shortly before he declared martial law on December 3, as reported by Yonhap news agency.
This signifies the first occasion on which Han has been publicly acknowledged as having been questioned as a suspect in this investigation.
"Out of the 12 individuals who attended the Cabinet meeting, we have questioned nine, excluding President Yoon Suk Yeol, former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun, and Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho," stated a police official.
"Despite our ongoing requests for attendance, the unification minister appeared before the prosecution and underwent questioning there," the official added.
A senior representative from the Prime Minister's Office informed reporters that the questioning occurred "before the transition to acting president," indicating it took place on or before Saturday.
As the prime minister, Han assumed the position of acting president after Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly and suspended from his duties on Saturday.
"(Han) has participated fully and diligently in the investigation," the official remarked.
Police have collaborated with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and the Defence Ministry to carry out a joint investigation into allegations that Yoon and others incited insurrection and misused their authority in the enforcement of martial law, as well as deploying troops to the National Assembly to allegedly obstruct lawmakers from revoking the decree.
The prosecution has initiated a concurrent investigation into this matter but transferred their inquiries into Yoon and former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min to the joint investigation team earlier this week.
