2 weeks in, South Korea's latest leader Choi walks political tightrope

SEOUL — Two weeks after becoming South Korea's second acting president, Choi Sang-mok faces not only the task of steering a shaky economy and rebuilding confidence among global allies but simply staying in his job amid the worst political crisis in decades.

Choi, who only gained his first ministerial appointment two years ago, has been thrust into a political cauldron that has already consumed one of the country's most experienced leaders, but he has so far navigated the crisis better, say analysts.

"Choi is on a tightrope walk, basically in a balancing act between the two parties," said Kim Jin-wook, a Citigroup economist, referring to the main opposition Democratic Party and the ruling People's Power Party.

Choi has sparked anger from swathes of the public and the opposition over what they see as him impeding efforts to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol, who has defied repeated summons in a separate criminal investigation into allegations he masterminded insurrection with his Dec 3 martial law bid.

Still, Choi, 61, a veteran economic technocrat, has already outlasted his predecessor the Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

Han, who first took over from Yoon, was impeached by parliament after 13 days as acting president for not approving justices to the Constitutional Court.

Kim played down the prospect of Choi being impeached given the opposition is even less favourable to others in the cabinet.

However, the Democratic Party, which has the numbers in parliament to impeach Choi if it chooses, on Tuesday filed a criminal complaint with police against him for not ordering presidential guards to make way for authorities to arrest Yoon on their failed first attempt a week ago.

A six-hour stand off with armed presidential