South Korea’s Acting President Moves to Reassure Allies, Calm Markets after Impeachment

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

“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 stabilize the country’s leadership, the main opposition party announced it would not seek to impeach Han for his involvement in 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.

Han, a longtime technocrat picked by Yoon as prime minister, was elevated to acting president in accordance with the constitution while Yoon’s case moves to the Constitutional Court.

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.

Biden told Han 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 neighbor Japan, 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 linchpin for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region during Acting President Han’s tenure.”

Han convened his cabinet and National Security Council shortly after Saturday’s 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 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, Turner added.

The Constitutional Court has up to six months to decide whether to remove or reinstate 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,” Turner said.