Ousted South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol has appeared in court at the start of a new trial on obstruction charges after weeks of boycotting a separate ongoing trial for masterminding an insurrection by leading a failed martial law bid.

Yoon, 64, appeared noticeably slimmer and his hair greyer and cropped short on Thursday after more than two months out of public view in prison and having refused to attend trial since early July citing health reasons.

The conservative former president faces fresh charges including obstruction stemming from attempts to block investigators trying to arrest him in January when his powers had been suspended by parliament's impeachment and he barricaded himself inside the presidential compound.

The new charges were brought by a special prosecutor who was a

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