South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies

South Korea's acting president, Han Duck-soo, 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, the White House and Mr 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," 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 3 December martial law decision.

"Given that the prime minister has already been confirmed as acting president and considering that excessive impeachment could lead to confusion in national governance, we have decided not to proceed with impeachment procedures," Democratic Party Leader Lee Jae-myung told reporters.

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

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 the acting prime minister the ironclad US-South Korea alliance remained unchanged and the US would work with the country to further develop and strengthen the alliance as well as trilateral cooperation including neighbour Japan, Mr Han's office said.

The US said in a statement that Mr Biden "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."

Mr Han convened his cabinet and National Security Council shortly after yesterday’s impeachment vote and vowed to maintain military readiness to prevent any breach of national security.

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.