South Korea’s acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after impeachment

SEOUL - South Korean Acting President Han Duck-soo on Dec 15 moved to reassure the country’s allies and calm financial markets, a day after

President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached and suspended

from his duties over a martial law attempt.

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

“South Korea will carry out its foreign and security policies without disruption, and strive to ensure the South Korea-US alliance is maintained and developed steadfastly,” Mr Han said, according to a statement from his office.

In a further attempt to stabilise the country’s leadership, the main opposition party announced

it would not seek to impeach Mr Han

for his involvement in Mr Yoon’s Dec 3 martial law decision.

“Given that the Prime Minister has already been confirmed as acting president and considering that excessive impeachments could lead to confusion in national governance, we have decided not to proceed with impeachment procedures,” Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung told reporters.

Prosecutors said Mr Yoon did not appear for questioning in a criminal investigation into his martial law bid on the morning of Dec 15 in response to a summons, and they promised to issue another order, Yonhap news agency reported.

Mr Han, a long-time technocrat picked by Mr Yoon as prime minister, was elevated to acting president in accordance with the Constitution while Mr Yoon’s case moves to the Constitutional Court.

Demonstrators seeking Mr Yoon’s ouster braved the cold to throng the streets outside the National Assembly building where he was impeached.

The crowd numbered about 200,000, according to police, said Yonhap.

Since Mr Han’s role is only as acting president, “I hope he will exercise the minimum power to operate the country stably, rather than actively be involved in state affairs”, said Mr Jo Sung-woo, a 39-year-old Seoul resident.

About 8.5km away, a much smaller number of Mr Yoon’s supporters – about 41,000, according to Yonhap – demonstrated in the central Seoul area.

“As a citizen, I’m really sad that the impeachment motion was passed,” said Mr Yim Joung-sook, 55. “I really can’t stand to see these illegal lawmakers who were elected in fraudulent elections making evil laws, and now this huge opposition party is running wild on their own.”

Mr Yoon’s surprise martial law declaration and the ensuing political crisis spooked markets, and South Korea’s diplomatic partners worried over the country’s ability to deter nuclear-armed North Korea.

Mr Biden told Mr Han that the ironclad US-South Korea alliance remained unchanged, and Washington would work with Seoul to further develop and strengthen the alliance, as well as trilateral cooperation including neighbour Japan, Mr Han’s office said.

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

“President Biden expressed his confidence that the alliance will remain the lynchpin for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region during Acting President Han’s tenure.”

Mr Han convened his Cabinet and National Security Council shortly after the Dec 14 impeachment vote and vowed to maintain military readiness to prevent any breach of national security.

South Korea’s partners wanted to see a credible and constitutional temporary leadership put in place as soon as possible, said Mr Philip Turner, a former New Zealand ambassador to South Korea.

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

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

The Constitutional Court has up to six months to decide whether to remove or reinstate Mr Yoon. If he is removed or resigns, a new election will be held within 60 days.

“During that time, Korea’s highly competent professional bureaucracy can be relied on to keep the country’s foreign policy running, but they will find it hard to provide clear direction,” Mr Turner said.

Separately, South Korean prosecutors earlier on Dec 15 sought an arrest warrant for Army Special Warfare Command head Kwak Jong-keun over his role in Mr Yoon’s emergency martial law declaration, Yonhap reported.

The warrant was filed on charges of insurrection and abuse of power, with Lieutenant-General Kwak being accused of sending troops to the National Assembly on the night of Dec 3.

Economic fallout

South Korean shares rose for a fourth straight session on Dec 13 on hopes that the political uncertainty would ease after the impeachment vote in Parliament, which followed a failed vote a week earlier.

Mr Lee, the Democratic Party’s leader, said the most pressing economic issue is a slump in consumption caused by insufficient domestic demand and the government’s reduction of its fiscal role.

He called for a National Stability Council for Governance comprising the government and Parliament to discuss finance, the economy and public livelihoods.

“To address this, I believe it is necessary to promptly discuss a supplementary budget,” Mr Lee said, adding that a supplementary budget could include funding to support small businesses and investments related to artificial intelligence and infrastructure to try to head off energy shortages.

Parliament, controlled by Mr Lee’s party, passed a 673.3 trillion won (S$635 billion) 2025 budget Bill on Dec 10 that cut the government’s 677.4 trillion won proposal, without reaching an agreement with Mr Yoon’s People Power Party and the government.

By law, Parliament cannot increase government budgets, and, at the time, the Democratic Party said a supplementary budget could be needed to address spending for people’s livelihoods.

The party said its cuts were mostly in reserve funds for the government, interest costs and funds allocated to the presidential office, prosecutors and auditors for classified operations.

The government accused Parliament of delaying projects for small businesses with the cuts.

Deadlock over budget issues was one of the justifications Mr Yoon cited for imposing martial law.

South Korea’s financial authorities vowed on Dec 15 to act as needed to stabilise markets, while the Finance Minister said he would announce an economic policy plan by the year end. REUTERS