Former President Yoon Suk-yeol attends the first hearing for the case of alleged obstruction of official duties and abuse of power, held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on September 26. Yonhap News. 

The special prosecutor team investigating former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup's alleged evasion to Australia visited the Seoul Detention Center, where former President Yoon Suk-yeol is being held, on the 16th for the first 'in-prison investigation'.

This marks the first time a detention center visit has occurred among the 'three special prosecutor teams,' which include the teams investigating sedition and Kim Keon-hee.

According to the special prosecutor team and the Correction Bureau, the special prosecutor's investigation team visited the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi Province, on this day to conduct an in-person interrogation of former President Yoon. The investigation took place from 1:30 PM to 6:00 PM, lasting approximately 4 hours and 30 minutes.

The actual interrogation lasted about three and a half hours, after which former President Yoon reviewed the transcript for an hour before affixing his signature.

On this day, the special prosecutor team intensely questioned former President Yoon about the charges of aiding former Minister Lee's evasion to Australia (aiding and abetting escape, abuse of power). The prepared questionnaire was about 60 pages long, and video recording was also conducted.

Similar to his first interrogation on the 11th, former President Yoon did not exercise his right to remain silent this time and primarily made statements denying the charges.

According to his legal counsel, former President Yoon stated on this day, "The appointment process for the ambassador to Australia proceeded normally in accordance with relevant laws and regulations and customary procedures of the diplomatic and security lines. The Presidential Office did not issue any instructions or exert any external pressure on the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this process."

Regarding the suspicion that the travel ban on former Minister Lee, who was a suspect, was lifted, he also denied the charges, stating, "Rather, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, by not conducting timely investigations and maintaining the travel ban for a prolonged period, caused significant disruption to strategic cooperation with Australia and defense diplomacy schedules."

On this day, Senior Prosecutor Jeong Hyun-seung, who is exclusively in charge of the investigation into the alleged evasion to Australia, led the investigation, accompanied by one supporting prosecutor and one investigator from the special prosecutor's team.

The investigation reportedly took place in a visitation room for official business within the detention center. This is said to be a place where in-person investigations of unconvicted inmates by investigative agencies are primarily conducted.

Former President Yoon was questioned while wearing a prison uniform with his inmate number. It is known that his lawyer, Chae Myung-seong, was present to represent him.

While the special prosecutor team's principle was to summon and interrogate former President Yoon, the second interrogation was conducted as a visit to the detention center, considering the investigation period and requests from the legal team.

This is the fifth instance of an investigative agency conducting an in-prison investigation of a former president. Previously, the prosecution conducted in-person investigations of former presidents Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo, Park Geun-hye, and Lee Myung-bak at detention centers.

Among these, former President Lee, who was arrested in March 2018 on charges of bribery and embezzlement related to DAS, consistently refused in-person interrogations by the prosecution, and therefore, actual investigations were not conducted.

A convoy vehicle carrying former President Yoon Suk-yeol enters the underground parking lot of the special prosecutor team's office for the investigation into the death of Corporal Chae, in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 11th. Yonhap News. 

The suspicion of evasion to Australia arose when former Minister Lee, who was under investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, was appointed ambassador to Australia and departed the country on March 4 of last year.

Former Minister Lee, who was under a travel ban, had the ban lifted four days after his ambassadorial appointment and immediately departed to take up his post. However, he returned to Korea 11 days later due to worsening public sentiment at home.

The special prosecutor team has since investigated officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and the National Security Office and has obtained evidence indicating that former Minister Lee's nomination as ambassador was unusual, his qualification review was rushed, and the defense cooperation meeting, suspected to be a pretext for his return, was hastily planned.

The special prosecutor team plans to indict the suspects in the Australia evasion case based on the investigation conducted so far, without further interrogation of former President Yoon. The deadline for the investigation into the death of Corporal Chae is the 28th.

Yonhap News