By Timothy Gardner, David Brunnstrom and Ju-min Park WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Energy has designated ally South Korea a "sensitive" country, a spokesperson said on Friday, after the South Korean president briefly imposed martial law and amid talk of Seoul potentially developing nuclear weapons.

US-sensitive country WASHINGTON, March 14 (Yonhap) -- The placement of South Korea on the U.S. Department of Energy's "sensitive country" list might pose a tricky test to the bilateral alliance, experts said Friday,

South Korea's acting President Choi Sang-mok called on Friday for the nation to respect and accept any decision, ahead of a Constitutional Court's ruling on the impeachment of leader Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law order.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who lawmakers voted to impeach, was released from detention Saturday after spending nearly two months in custody under a criminal probe for his martial law declaration.