S.Korea calls for closer ties with US

South Korea's acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn on Tuesday called for closer ties with Washington, despite likely change in trade and security policies under US President-elect Donald Trump.

"We have to continuously maintain and strengthen the relationship without wavering even a bit," Yonhap News Agency quoted Hwang's speech during a cabinet meeting.

At the meeting, Hwang also called on cabinet members to "pre-emptively" prepare for possible changes in US security and foreign trade policies, and to consult with their counterparts in America.

"The South Korea-US alliance accounts for a great proportion in the maintenance of peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in northeast Asia," added Hwang.

During his election campaign, Trump criticised Washington's security alliances with South Korea and other countries in the region and said he would review bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, raising concerns in Seoul.

In addition, Trump lashed out at the free trade agreement between the US and South Korea that came into force in 2012, an agreement that he called a "job-killer".

Hwang temporarily holds the presidency of the country as President Park Geun-hye awaits a South Korea constitutional court decision on whether an impeachment vote is valid following a corruption scandal.

--IANS

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