Global credit appraiser Fitch Ratings says the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye will not have significant negative effects on South Korea’s sovereign rating.

Fitch on Wednesday maintained South Korea’s rating at 'AA-' with an economic growth outlook of two-point-five or three percent for 2017 and 2018. 

Fitch said the nation’s political institutions appear strong enough to ensure an orderly and constitutional resolution.
 
The international rating agency predicted that despite the time frame of 180 days, the Constitutional Court will reach a verdict much sooner, given the strong support for impeachment in parliament and precedents from the last presidential impeachment deliberations in 2004.
 
It said that if Park’s impeachment is upheld, a presidential election will be held in the first half of next year, far ahead of December 2017 as originally scheduled.

It warned that economic activities will be discouraged until a new president is elected, as the political uncertainty will delay investment and dampen consumer confidence. Fitch, however, concluded that the political disruption will not severely affect economic activity in the medium term.