A former vice justice minister has refused a request by prosecutors to appear for questioning as part of a reopened investigation into a sex bribery scandal. 

The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said it notified ex-vice justice minister Kim Hak-ui to come to the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office by 3 p.m. on Friday to be questioned, but that he did not appear or respond. 

It said it would try to rearrange the schedule of the summons for Kim. The prosecutors in the case currently do not have the power to forcibly summon a suspect for questioning.

Kim, who was appointed to the post in March of 2013, tendered his resignation less than a week later after media reports that he was one of multiple influential figures who received sex services from women hired by a local construction contractor seeking business favors in 2009. 

The police questioned him later in the year and sent the case to the prosecution, requesting an indictment. However, the prosecutors at the time cleared him of the charges after closed-door questioning.