South Korea's sovereign credit rating will not be affected much by the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, global credit appraiser Standard & Poor's (S&P) said Monday.

"Although the political uncertainty could remain a distraction to policymakers for some time, we believe the effective (South) Korean bureaucracy will keep the government running smoothly," S&P said.

On Friday, the National Assembly passed a motion to impeach President Park over an influence-peddling scandal in which her long-time confidante meddled in state affairs. The Constitutional Court has up to 180 days whether to adopt the motion.

"We envisage potential delays in the passage of legislation as South Korea enters this period of political uncertainty. However, we do not expect the uncertainty to result in material changes to the sovereign's credit metrics," the agency said.

The country's rating was upgraded to a record high of AA from AA- in October on the back of a stable outlook on the country's steady growth and flexible fiscal and monetary policies.

"We anticipate that the mature institutions in South Korea will enable politics to revert to normal in due course. Any impact on domestic economic sentiments is likely to be temporary," the company said. (Yonhap)