By Heekyong Yang and Josh Smith
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s incumbent President Han Duck-soo sought to reassure the country’s allies and calm financial markets on Sunday, a day after President Yoon Suk Yeol was charged with attempting martial law and suspended from his duties.
Han spoke by telephone with US President Joe Biden, the White House and Han’s office said.
“South Korea will carry out its foreign and security policy without interruption and strive to ensure that the South Korea-US alliance is steadfastly maintained and developed,” Han said, according to a statement from his office.
In a further attempt to stabilize the Asian country’s leadership, the main opposition party said it would not seek to charge Han over his involvement in Yoon’s Dec. 3 martial law decision.
“Considering that the prime minister has already been confirmed as acting president and considering that excessive impeachments could cause confusion in national governance, we have decided not to initiate impeachment proceedings,” Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said party, told reporters.
Prosecutors said Yoon failed to appear on Sunday morning in response to a summons for questioning as part of a criminal investigation into his martial law decision and promised to issue another order, Yonhap news agency reported.
Yoon and a number of senior officials may face charges of insurrection, abuse of office and obstructing the exercise of their rights.
The prosecutor’s office did not return calls seeking comment.
Han, a veteran technocrat appointed prime minister by the conservative Yoon, has been named acting president under the constitution while Yoon’s case moves to the Constitutional Court.
Protesters calling for Yoon’s ouster braved the cold and crowded the streets outside the National Assembly building where he was charged. The crowd was about 200,000, according to police figures, Yonhap said.
Since Han’s role is only that of acting president, “I hope he exercises the minimum power to run the country stably rather than actively interfering in state affairs,” said Jo Sung-woo, a 39-year-old Seoul resident.
About 8.5 km (five miles) away, a much smaller number of Yoon supporters demonstrated in central Seoul.
“I really can’t bear to see these illegal lawmakers who were elected through fraudulent elections making evil laws, and now this huge opposition party is running on its own,” said Yim Joung-sook, 55.
NORTH KOREAN THREAT
Yoon’s surprise declaration of martial law and the political crisis that followed unsettled markets and South Korea’s diplomatic partners as they worried about the country’s ability to deter North Korea with nuclear weapons.
Biden told Han that the ironclad alliance between the United States and South Korea remains unchanged and that Washington will work with Seoul to further develop and strengthen the alliance and trilateral cooperation involving neighbor Japan, Han said from his office.
The White House said in a statement that the U.S. president “expressed his appreciation for the resilience of democracy and the rule of law in the Republic of Korea,” using the abbreviation for the country’s official name, Republic of Korea.
Shortly after Saturday’s impeachment vote, Han convened his Cabinet and National Security Council and vowed to maintain military readiness to prevent any breaches of national security.
He spoke by phone with the commander of U.S. forces in Korea and expressed concern about the possibility that North Korea might attempt military provocations such as ballistic missile launches or cyberattacks, Yonhap said, citing Han’s office.
South Korea’s partners wanted a credible and constitutional interim leadership installed as quickly as possible, said Philip Turner, a former New Zealand ambassador to South Korea.
“You will be pleased to see Prime Minister Han take over as acting president,” he said. “He is capable, experienced and highly respected in foreign capitals.”
But even with a sitting president in office, international partners face months of uncertainty before a new president can be elected and a new government formed, Turner added.
The Constitutional Court has up to six months to decide whether to remove or reinstate Yoon. In the event of his removal or resignation, new elections will be held within 60 days.
ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES
South Korean stocks rose for a fourth straight session on Friday on hopes that political uncertainty would ease after the parliament’s impeachment vote, which followed a failed vote a week earlier.
Lee, the Democratic Party chairman, said the most pressing issue was a slump in consumption caused by insufficient domestic demand and curbs on the government’s fiscal role.
He called for a National Stability Council for Governance, consisting of the government and parliament, to discuss finance, economics and public livelihoods.
“It is necessary to discuss a supplementary budget immediately,” Lee said, adding that such a measure could support small businesses and investments related to artificial intelligence and infrastructure to prevent energy shortages.
The parliament controlled by Lee’s party passed a 673.3 trillion won ($470.6 billion) 2025 budget proposal on Tuesday, cutting the government’s 677.4 trillion won proposal, without an agreement with Yoon’s People Power Party and the government to achieve.
By law, Parliament cannot increase state budgets, and at the time the Democratic Party said a supplementary budget might be needed to cover people’s living expenses.
The party said its cuts mainly affected reserve funds for the government, interest costs and funds allocated to the presidential office, prosecutors and auditors for secret operations. The government accused Parliament of using the cuts to delay projects for small businesses.
The budget deadlock was one of the justifications Yoon gave for imposing martial law.
South Korea’s financial authorities vowed on Sunday to act if necessary to stabilize markets, while the finance minister said he would announce an economic policy plan by the end of the year.
