It was unclear who the winners would be, however, and how the shock move would play politically at general elections here on April 15 which will determine who controls the National Assembly in a straight fight between Roh loyalists in the Uri Party and the two opposition groups who backed impeachment, they added.

Suspended from office by the opposition-dominated National Assembly, Roh now has to wait for up to six months for a Constitutional Court ruling to see whether he will be fired from the job to which he was elected barely a year ago for a five-year term.

In the meantime, Roh's prime minister Koh Gun will serve as an acting president, running the economy, foreign affairs and national security as interim head of state.

Most analysts said the Constitutional Court will overturn Roh's impeachment and restore him to the post.

"Consensus is that the Constitutional Court won't validate given the ground for the impeachment is related to a minor misconduct," Merrill Lynch Securities said.

Political science professor Chun In-Young of the Seoul National University said people were so stunned by the unprecedented episode that they needed time to think it over. The impeachment motion was unpopular, he said, adding that Roh's support ratings have also dropped sharply in recent months.

Earlier surveys prior to impeachment suggested the Uri Party of Roh's loyalists would pick up many more seats at the expense of the two opposition parties, the Grand National Party (GNP) and Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), at the general elections.

"But it seems obvious that the opposition parties have taken advantage of this saga to hide their divisions and become more united ahead of the elections while the Uri Party exposed its weakness as a minority group," he said.

The Uri Party has currently only 47 seats among 271 Assembly seats as the GNP has 145, MDP 62 and 17 others including independents and a splinter party.

For Roh, who has threatened to step down several times over corruption scandals affecting his aides and associates, the future looked grim, according to some analysts.

"Politically, he is already sentenced to death by the Assembly," said Merrill Lynch, noting that Roh had said he would resign if his minority ruling Uri Party failed to gain ground in the April 15 poll.

Many analysts feared political uncertainty caused by the impeachment vote would set back the economy's chances of recovery.

"Domestic consumption is the sector to be hardest hit," Merrill Lynch said, adding that corporate capital spending appetite will also be undermined, with a multiple contraction effect weighing on share prices.

Ryu Suk-Ryul, an analyst with the state-run Institute for Foreign Affairs and National Security, said a South Korea without its president would find itself in an awkward situation at the talks on North Korea's nuclear drive.

"It may cause a delay in search of a peaceful solution to the nuclear stand-off," Ryu said.

Six-way talks held in Beijing last month to ease the nuclear stand-off failed to resolve differences over the core US demand for the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear programs.

The group -- the two Koreas, Japan, the United States, China and Russia -- agreed to hold a third round of talks in Beijing by the end of June.

Conservatives in the National Assembly who voted to impeach Roh have criticised him for upholding a soft line on the Stalinist state by rejecting US calls for sanctions and pressure on Pyongyang to drop its nuclear weapons drive.

WAR.WIRE