Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed confidence in South Korea’s acting leader as the two nations reaffirmed their security alliance and combat readiness against North Korea at a time when Seoul is struggling to restore political stability.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday opened a visit to crisis-riven South Korea, where he will seek delicately to encourage continuity with the policies, but not tactics, of the impeached president.

The man central to blocking investigators from arresting South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has come under the spotlight himself in the political crisis sparked by Yoon's brief declaration of martial law last month.