South Korean president moves to bolster allies, calm markets after Yoon’s impeachment By Reuters

By Heekyong Yang and Josh Smith

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s acting president, Han Duck-soo, moved on Sunday to reassure the country’s allies and calm financial markets, a day after President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached and suspended for attempting to wage war.

Han spoke with US President Joe Biden by phone, the White House and Han’s office said.

“South Korea will carry out its foreign and security policies without compromise and strive to ensure that South Korea’s relationship with the US is maintained and developed in a stable manner,” Han said, according to a statement from his office.

In another attempt to calm the Asian nation’s leadership, the main opposition party announced that it did not want to impeach Han for his participation in Yoon’s December 3 election.

“Given that the prime minister has already been confirmed as the president and considering that further violations of the law would cause chaos in the country’s governance, we have decided not to proceed with impeachment,” Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung told reporters.

Han, a former technologist who was appointed by the conservative Yoon as prime minister, was elevated to the constitutional presidency while Yoon’s case went to the Supreme Court.

Demonstrators demanding Yoon’s impeachment braved the cold to gather in the streets outside the National Assembly building where he was impeached. The crowd was about 200,000, according to police, Yonhap news agency reported.

Since Han’s role is only that of the president, “I hope that he will use his limited power to serve the country in a sustainable way, not to participate in government affairs,” said Jo Sung-woo, a 39-year-old from Seoul.

About 8.5 km (five kilometers), less than a few of Yoon’s followers staged a demonstration in the center of Seoul.

“As a citizen, I feel very sad that the impeachment decision was passed,” said Yim Joung-sook, 55. “I can’t bear to see illegal lawmakers who were elected by fraudulent elections make bad laws and now this. The main opposition party is making a mockery of itself.”

ADDITIONS TO NORTH KOREA

The surprise announcement of Yoon’s martial law and the political crisis that followed rattled markets and South Korea’s allies, worried about the country’s ability to deter North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Biden told Han that the ironclad US-South Korea alliance has not changed and that Washington will work with Seoul to advance and strengthen the alliance and the trilateral alliance including neighboring Japan, Han’s office said.

The White House said in a statement that the US president “expressed his appreciation for the stability of democracy and the rule of law in the ROK and reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to the people of the ROK,” using the acronym for the country’s name, the Republic of Korea.

“President Biden expressed his confidence that the Alliance will remain the path to peace and development in the Indo-Pacific region during President Han’s administration.”

Mr Han summoned his ministers and the National Security Council shortly after Saturday’s vote and pledged to remain ready to fight to prevent any breach of national security.

Han spoke by phone with the head of the US military in Korea, expressing concern about the possibility of North Korea trying to provoke the military, such as launching ballistic missiles or cyber attacks, Yonhap said, citing Han’s office. He also emphasized that the strong bilateral security relationship is more difficult than ever, it said.

South Korean friends want to see a credible and legitimate interim leadership installed soon, said Philip Turner, New Zealand’s former ambassador to South Korea.

“They will be happy to see Prime Minister Han take over as president,” he said. “He is capable, experienced and respected in foreign circles.”

But even with an interim president in place, international partners face months of uncertainty before a new president is elected and a new government is established, Turner added.

FINANCIAL BREAKDOWN

The Constitutional Court has six months to decide whether to remove or reinstate Yoon. In case of dismissal or resignation, a new election will be held within 60 days.

“At that time, the Korean government officials who have good experience can be trusted to continue the policy of the foreign country, but it will be difficult for them to give clear instructions,” Turner said.

South Korean shares rose for a fourth straight session on Friday on hopes that political uncertainty will ease after a vote against parliament, which followed last week’s failed vote.

The leader of the Democratic Party, Lee, said that the most pressing problem is the decrease in the consumption of goods caused by the domestic shortage and the government’s lack of funds.

He called for the National Stability Council for Governance which consists of the government and the parliament to discuss the economy, the economy and the lives of the people.

“In order to deal with this, I believe it is necessary to urgently negotiate an additional budget,” said Lee, adding that the additional budget may include funds to support small businesses and funds related to creative and infrastructure to try to overcome the lack of energy.

The legislature, controlled by Lee’s party, passed a budget of 673.3 trillion won ($470.6 billion) for 2025 on Tuesday, which cut the government’s request for 677.4 trillion won, opposed by Yoon’s People Power Party and the government.

By law, the legislature can’t raise federal spending, and at the time the Democratic Party said more money would be needed to end welfare payments.

The party said that the cut was due to the money kept by the government, interest and money paid to the office of the president, public prosecutors and auditors to perform various tasks. The government has accused parliament of delaying and cutting small business.

The economic deadlock was one of the reasons Yoon cited for imposing martial law.

South Korean finance officials vowed on Sunday to take the necessary steps to stabilize markets as the finance minister said he would announce a fiscal policy by the end of the year.