South Korean court begins Yoon's impeachment hearings

South Korea's Constitutional Court on Monday began reviewing the impeachment of President Yoon Suk -yeol over his December 3 martial law attempt, starting a process to decide if he will be removed from office, while investigators plan to question him this week.

The court will hold the first public hearing on December 27, spokesperson Lee Jean told a news conference, after the court's six justices met to discuss plans for reviewing the impeachment by the opposition-controlled parliament on Saturday.

The court has up to six months to decide whether to remove Yoon from office or to reinstate him. The first hearing will be "preparatory" to confirm major legal issues of the case and schedule among other matters, Lee said.

Yoon is not required to attend that hearing, he said.

In 2017, the court took three months to issue a ruling to strip then-President Park Geun-hye's presidency following her impeachment for abusing the powers of her office.

Yoon and a number of senior officials face potential charges of insurrection for the short-lived martial law.

A joint team of investigators from the police, the defense ministry and an anti-corruption agency is planning to call Yoon in for questioning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, a police official told Reuters.

Investigators tried to serve a summons for Yoon to appear by delivering it to the presidential office and his official residence, but the presidential security service declined to receive it, saying it was not in the position to do so, Yonhap News said.

On Sunday, Yoon did not appear in response to a summons for questioning by a separate investigation by the prosecutors' office, Yonhap News reported. Yoon cited he was still forming a legal team for his defense as the reason, it said.