
GWACHEON, Gyeonggi Province -- The lead agency of the joint team investigating President Yoon Suk Yeol said it was sending the case to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office after multiple failed attempts to interrogate the detained president.
The case was transferred to the prosecution, which holds the sole authority to indict the president, four days after the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials formally arrested the president and eight days after it took him into custody.
The anti-corruption agency said the prosecution would further facilitate the investigation and indict Yoon on charges of insurrection.
Under the Constitution, a sitting president is immune from indictment for any crime other than insurrection and treason.
“Though the agency had more time left for the investigation, the CIO decided to refer the case before its first detention period expires (on Jan. 28). We felt the earlier transfer would allow the prosecution to get to the bottom of the case more effectively,” Lee Jae-seung, deputy chief prosecutor of the CIO, told reporters in a press briefing held at the CIO’s headquarters on Thursday.
“The CIO was able to secure evidence to prove Yoon’s alleged insurrection, including how many troops the president planned to deploy for the imposition of martial law on Dec. 3, attempts to arrest lawmakers and plans to declare martial law again,” Lee said.
According to Lee, the CIO prosecutors and investigators made multiple attempts to proceed with the investigation -- including a forced summons and questioning at the prison -- since the formal arrest warrant was issued on Jan. 19.
However, Yoon continued to refuse the agency’s requests by exercising his right to speak with his lawyers to prepare for the impeachment trial.
The CIO opened an investigation into Yoon’s alleged insurrection and abuse of power charges on Dec. 5, 2024, two days after the botched martial law declaration.
A joint investigative team -- consisting of the CIO, the police and the military -- was formed on Dec. 11 to investigate Yoon’s martial law imposition amid concerns about overlapping investigations into the high-profile case. The CIO then summoned and investigated key figures behind the six-hour period of martial law, including the former head of the Defense Intelligence Command, Moon Sang-ho, and former Army Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun.
In a massive operation involving a thousand police personnel, the CIO brought the president out of the heavily fortified presidential residence on Jan. 15.
The CIO tried to execute a search and seizure warrant to obtain the servers that process data from Yoon's secure mobile phone and computer at the presidential residence and presidential office in Yongsan-gu, central Seoul, on Wednesday.
But the investigators had to withdraw from the presidential office after they were refused entry. They were also unable to execute their search and seizure warrant at the presidential residence, as the acting chief of the Presidential Security Service was not on duty due to his attendance at a National Assembly hearing.
“Regardless of the status of the individuals involved, all those under investigation will be held accountable according to the law. We will work closely with the relevant agencies to continue with a strict investigation of the martial law declaration,” the deputy director said.