US Secretary of State: "Korea's Democratic Resilience is One of the Strongest Cases in the World"

"Yoon Welcomes the Lifting of Martial Law"

U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken said on the 4th (local time) that "South Korea's manifestation of democracy and democratic resilience is one of the strongest examples in the world."

U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken, visiting Haiti, held a press conference on the 5th (local time) at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

After the NATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Brussels, Belgium, on the afternoon of the same day, Secretary Blinken responded this way to a question regarding the martial law situation in South Korea, asking whether holding the Democracy Summit in Seoul last March was ultimately a mistake.

Secretary Blinken welcomed President Yoon Suk-yeol's decision to lift the emergency martial law, emphasizing that "our judgment is that all political disagreements need to be resolved peacefully and according to the rule of law."

He also said, "South Korea is our closest partner and ally in the world," and that he would continue to closely monitor the situation within South Korea.

President Joe Biden hosted the 1st Democracy Summit in December 2021, inviting democratic countries worldwide to the United States with the aim of strengthening democracy against authoritarian countries such as Russia, China, and North Korea.

Subsequently, the Biden administration co-hosted the 2nd Summit in March 2023 with South Korea, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, and Zambia, and the 3rd Summit, held outside the U.S. for the first time, was hosted solely by the South Korean government in Seoul in March.