SEOUL, March 12: South Korea's Constitutional Court began deliberations on Friday on the impeachment of President Roh Moo-Hyun, pledging "swift" justice in reviewing the vote to suspend the South Korean leader from office.

"The nine justices began deliberating concerning impeachment upon receiving the relevant documents at 4:10pm (1210 PST) from the National Assembly," Lee Sang-Cheon, an official with the court, told AFP.

The nine-member court must rule within six months by a majority of at least six justices whether to uphold or kill parliament's vote for impeachment, according to the constitution.

"It is a grave matter requiring a swift and flawless procedure. We will proceed with deliberation in such a manner," court president Yun Young-Chul said earlier.

Court officials said relevant documents had been distributed to all nine justices for deliberations.

"We have yet to fix a timetable for handing down a ruling," Lee said.

President Roh's office has called for quick action from the court on the opposition-led impeachment that suspended the 57-year-old leader from office.

"We expect a quick Constitutional Court ruling in order to minimize a disorder in state affairs," Lee Byung-Wan, the press secretary for Roh, said.

The country's two main opposition parties impeached the president for violating electoral law by publicly speaking in favor of a pro-government party before April 15 general elections. But a number of analysts here believe the court is unlikely to take Roh's law violation seriously enough to oust him.

Roh has expressed confidence that the court will reverse his impeachment.

Earlier, South Korea's parliament voted to impeach President Roh Moo-hyun amid rowdy scenes, suspending him from office and thrusting the country into unprecedented political and economic uncertainty.

Roh's powers are in limbo until the Constitutional Court rules on the vote in the opposition-dominated chamber - a process that could take up to six months. Under the constitution, Prime Minister Goh Kun will run the country in the interim.

South Korean financial markets reacted sharply with investors seeking the safe haven of bonds while shares fell by four per cent and the won extended losses. Asia's fourth-largest economy is just emerging from a downturn and faces an April 15 parliamentary election.

"Today there was a massacre of democracy," said the pro-Roh Uri Party that had sought to block the vote. Its members of parliament said they would resign en masse.

The main opposition Grand National Party pledged to work with Goh for the sake of stability.-Reuters