Former President Yoon Suk Yeol has refused a second request to appear for police questioning on allegations that he ordered the secret service to prevent law enforcement from arresting him over martial law in January.

The former president’s lawyer, Yun Gap-geun, said in a statement submitted to the police on Wednesday that the arrest warrant in question was invalid and the attempt by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials to execute it was illegal. 

He argued that even if the former president and civil servants on the Presidential Security Service team did what was alleged, they broke no laws.

The lawyer said there is no legitimate reason for the police to summon the former president for questioning when suspicions have been misrepresented as facts to the public.

The lawyer stressed that an investigation must first be carried out to determine whether the attempt to arrest the former president was legal. 

Police summoned ex-President Yoon to appear for questioning this Thursday after he failed to respond to an initial summons to appear last Thursday.

Aside from being suspected of special obstruction of public duty regarding the arrest attempt, the former president is also alleged to have ordered the deletion of data on December 7 related to secure phones used by military commanders involved in martial law.