S. Korea reaffirms vigilant monitoring of financial markets amid political turmoil

Seoul, May 2 (IANS) Top economic and financial policymakers on Friday vowed to maintain round-the-clock monitoring of the financial markets amid heightened political uncertainties following the resignations of the prime minister and finance minister, the finance ministry said.

The renewed pledge was made during an emergency meeting on macroeconomic and financial issues, chaired by acting Finance Minister Kim Beom-suk and attended by Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong, and the chiefs of the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, reports Yonhap news agency.

"The officials said it is regrettable that Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok inevitably resigned due to the impeachment motion, especially at a time when uncertainties in the economy and financial markets are high due to the U.S. tariff shocks, and with just one month to go before the launch of a new administration," the ministry said in a release.

"To minimise any negative impact of heightened political uncertainty, authorities will continue operating a 24-hour emergency monitoring and response system," it added.

Late Thursday, Choi offered to step down after the Democratic Party pushed for his impeachment. His resignation was immediately accepted.

Choi's departure came just hours after Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who had been serving as acting president, resigned amid speculation over his bid in the June 3 presidential election.

Following their resignations, Education Minister Lee Ju-ho, who concurrently serves as deputy prime minister for social affairs, became acting leader.

After the emergency meeting, Kim held a separate session with senior officials of his ministry and reviewed key pending issues, such as tariff talks with the United States and the execution of supplementary budget.

"We should make all-out efforts to safeguard the country's external credibility and minimize U.S. tariff-related shocks," Kim said.

"The supplementary budget needs to be executed as swiftly as possible to ensure timely responses to such urgent issues as disaster response and support for trade and artificial intelligence (AI)," he added.

On Thursday, the National Assembly passed a 13.8 trillion-won (US$9.6 billion) extra budget aimed at helping disaster response efforts and revitalising the economy.

—IANS

na/