South Korea's suspended president refuses summons for second time

Yoon Suk Yeol was stripped of his duties by parliament on December 14, eleven days after his brief declaration of martial law in the country.

South Korea's suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol refused a summons for questioning for the second time, an investigation team said on Monday, after he snubbed a previous one last week.

A protestor wears a cut-out of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in a rally calling for his impeachment, who declared martial law, which was reversed hours later, near the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea. (REUTERS)

The conservative leader was stripped of his duties by parliament on December 14 after his brief declaration of martial law 11 days earlier, which plunged the country into its worst political crisis in decades.

Yoon faces impeachment and criminal charges of insurrection that could see him jailed for life, or even face the death penalty, over a drama that stunned democratic South Korea's allies around the world.

The anti-corruption body investigating Yoon's short-lived martial law declaration said it had sent the summons to his office and residence.

But "the postal system shows the presidential office had 'rejected the receiving' of the summons", the investigators said in a statement.

The summons sent electronically also returned a status of "unidentifiable", making it unclear whether Yoon had received it.

If Yoon appears, he would become the first sitting South Korean president to face questioning by an investigative agency. He failed to attend the initial hearing last Wednesday and gave no explanation for his absence.

Should Yoon fail to appear on Wednesday, the Corruption Investigation Office could seek an arrest warrant to compel him to appear -- also an unprecedented move against a sitting president.

Yoon remains suspended from office while the Constitutional Court considers whether to uphold his impeachment. The court has approximately six months to issue its ruling. Should the court decide to remove him from office, a by-election should be held within two months.