US says South Korea’s Yoon badly misjudged martial law declaration
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said almost all US interlocutors in South Korea were “deeply surprised” by Mr Yoon Suk Yeol’s move.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON - US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Dec 4 that South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol “badly misjudged” his decision to declare martial law this week,
Asked at an event organised by the Aspen Strategy Forum whether it was an intelligence failure that Washington was caught unaware by a key ally, Mr Campbell said almost all US interlocutors in South Korea, including in the president’s office, were “deeply surprised” by Mr Yoon’s move.
Mr Yoon declared martial law on late Dec to thwart “anti-state forces” among his domestic political opponents, but rescinded the decision hours later after lawmakers defied him.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Reuters in an interview on Dec 4 that the US, which has around 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea, was not aware of Mr Yoon’s intention to declare martial law.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan later told a Washington think-tank that the US learnt about it “on television, the same way the rest of the world did”, and “it raised deep concern for us”.
Mr Campbell said the events in South Korea had been “deeply unpredictable and unlikely”.
“I think President Yoon badly misjudged. And I think the memory of previous experiences of martial law have a deep and negative resonance in South Korea.”
Mr Campbell said the fact that both political sides in South Korea could agree the step was “deeply problematic” despite deep political polarisation and division in the country was a reassuring tribute to the strength of democracy in the country.
“This is a powerful symbol of the fact that people were prepared to come out and make clear that this was a deeply illegitimate process and that would be met by the will of the people,” he said.
Mr Campbell said South Korea would be “in a challenging place” in the next few months and the US goal would be to make clear its alliance with Seoul is “absolutely rock solid”.
He said almost all US interlocutors inside South Korea – “the foreign minister, the finance minister, many of the key players that we work with in the president’s office... were themselves deeply surprised” by Mr Yoon’s move.
South Korea’s Parliament introduced a motion on Dec 5 to impeach Mr Yoon over his botched attempt to impose martial law, but his party vowed to oppose the move, throwing the process into doubt. REUTERS
