South Korea’s acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after impeachment
South Korea’s acting president has reassured allies, investors, and markets that the country remains stable and a reliable partner
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 from his duties over his attempt to declare martial law.
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 disruption and strive to ensure the South Korea-US alliance is maintained and developed steadfastly,” Han said, according to a statement from his office.
In a further attempt to stabilise the Asian nation’s leadership, the main opposition party announced it would not seek to impeach Han for his involvement in Yoon’s December 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 Yoon did not appear on Sunday morning in response to a summons for questioning in a criminal investigation into his martial law decision, and they promised to issue another order, Yonhap news agency reported.
