A special counsel team has suspended its attempt to arrest jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol for questioning due to concerns about the potential for injury caused by his strong resistance. 

Special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team announced the decision in a press notice about two hours after arriving at the Seoul Detention Center in Gyeonggi Province.

The team said it attempted to execute the arrest warrant along with the detention center’s officers starting around 8:25 a.m. and used physical force, but due to Yoon’s strong resistance and fears that someone could be injured, the operation was halted around 9:40 a.m.

Yoon’s attorneys, however, told reporters later that the team had tried to remove him by holding onto his limbs, and then trying to lift the chair with Yoon sitting on it, failing both times due to Yoon’s resistance, and at one point causing Yoon to fall to the ground. 

His lawyers said they plan to press criminal charges against the team.

The counsel’s first attempt last week also failed, as Yoon reportedly resisted arrest by lying on the floor of his prison cell wearing only his underwear.

The arrest warrant for Yoon is effective until the end of Thursday.

Min’s team may consider seeking a fresh warrant, or it may send Yoon to trial with no in-person interrogation if his arrest is deemed impossible.