Live from Seoul Detention Center: CIO attempts another forced summons, Presidential Office raid

We start at the Seoul Detention Center where President Yoon Suk Yeol continues to refuse to partake in questioning sessions led by anti-corruption investigators.

For details I have Arirang Lee Soo-jin standing by live.

Soo-jin SO in light of the president's refusal to meet with investigators I understand a third attempt was made to take him in.

Do tell us more.

Sure,.. as announced during a briefing this morning, the CIO has moved forward with another forced summons today.

And this is, like you mentioned, the third such attempt.

But the CIO announced less than two hours ago that this attempt was also,.. unsuccessful.

A CIO vehicle was spotted passing through the main gate of the Seoul Detention Center at 10:20 AM today.

The CIO had considered several options.

One was forcibly transferring Yoon to the CIO interrogation room at the Government Complex in Gwacheon, and the other was carrying out on-site interviews in an investigation room at the detention center.

But Yoon, refused to comply with either, as he continued to sit in consultations with his lawyers.

This third attempt follows the first attempt that took place on Monday, followed by the second just yesterday, when the CIO had dispatched six investigators and prosecutors to the Seoul Detention Center at around 5 PM, after the agency confirmed that the impeachment trial hearing had been concluded.

But as Yoon did not immediately return to the facility but instead stopped by a military hospital for a medical check-up, the CIO officials were left to wait at the detention center.

The officials were eventually forced to leave around 30 minutes after Yoon arrived at the detention center, after 9 PM as regulations prohibit questioning detainees without their consent after 9 PM.

The agency is continuously making these efforts as there isn't much time before the CIO has to hand Yoon's case over to prosecutors before the detention period expires on the 28th.

Separately Soo-jin I hear anti-corruption officials launched a search and seize operation today targeting the presidential headquarters and residence?

Right, the CIO began a search and seizure operation this morning, at the Presidential Office and Yoon's residence, both located in Yongsan-gu District in central Seoul.

The agency is aiming to secure encrypted phone records, computers, as well as meeting minutes.

Yoon is currently facing allegations of using an encrypted phone to order top police and military officials to command troops to command troops to remove lawmakers from the National Assembly during his brief imposition of martial law.

This move is seen as part of the CIO's attempt to secure additional evidence amid the difficulties faced when trying to conduct in-person interviews with Yoon.

Yoon's lawyers have steadfastly maintained their stance of refusing to comply with the CIO investigation, saying that as they plan to attend all the impeachment hearings at the Constitution Court, they need time to prepare.

The search and seize operations are expected to face challenges, namely from the Presidential Security Service, which has blocked previous attempts.

And what has been the response to the events thus far from the public gathered there outside the detention center?

I've been here since the morning and even then I was able to see Yoon's supporters holding up posters, and hear their voices amplified through through loudspeakers.

But while there weren't that many people gathered this morning and early afternoon, now you can see and hear that more people have arrived.

And along with the growing number of people on-site, I've also noticed more police, as part of precautions to prevent another incident like the storming of the Seoul Western District Court by Yoon's supporters on Sunday.

There are also numerous 119 emergency trucks that have been dispatched.

And that's all I have for now.

Back to you, Sunny.

All right Soo-jin thank you for that coverage.

That was our Lee Soo-jin reporting live on the latest regarding the investigation into the president.