South Korea’s worst political crisis in decades is playing out against a darkening economic backdrop, as policymakers grapple with challenges ranging from a tumbling currency and weak consumer confidence to slowing job growth and intensifying competition from China.
Asia’s fourth-largest economy is facing these problems as it navigates twin political shocks: Donald Trump’s re-election in the US and the fallout from South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed attempt to impose martial law.
While South Korea’s political strife is likely to exacerbate its economic woes, analysts stressed that these weaknesses predate and go beyond the current crisis.