Cho Tae-yeol, Managing 'Emergency Martial Law Aftermath'... US Hopes for Peaceful Resolution

Concerns Over 'Fracture in the ROK-US Alliance'... Ministry of Foreign Affairs Steps In for Damage Control
Campbell, US Deputy Secretary of State, Says "Yoon Seok-yeol Completely Misjudged"

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol explained the martial law situation to the U.S. side and reaffirmed America's support for the South Korea-U.S. alliance. The U.S. State Department expressed hope that the situation would be resolved through "democratic procedures."

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 6th, Minister Cho Tae-yeol exchanged views on the domestic situation following President Yoon Seok-yeol's declaration of martial law on the night of the 3rd during a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, reaffirming U.S. support for South Korean democracy and the South Korea-U.S. alliance. This was the first formal dialogue between the two countries' diplomatic lines since the lifting of martial law.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yeol. Photo by Jo Yong-jun

Secretary Blinken said, "I highly appreciate the strong resilience demonstrated by South Korean democracy," and added, "I strongly hope that all political disagreements will be resolved peacefully and through democratic procedures going forward."

Minister Cho also met with Philip Goldberg, U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, the previous afternoon to explain the situation following the martial law declaration. Both sides agreed to closely cooperate to maintain the South Korea-U.S. alliance and the U.S. defense commitments.

The U.S. government has outwardly expressed a positive evaluation of "South Korean democracy," but has not hidden its discomfort. It is reported that there was no prior consultation with the U.S. during the process of declaring martial law, raising concerns that this could create rifts in the South Korea-U.S. alliance and with the upcoming "Donald Trump second term" starting in January next year.

Kurt Campbell, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, stated at the Aspen Security Forum (ASF) on the same day, "What happened in South Korea in the past 24 hours is completely different from anything before and was neither predictable nor expected." He then pointedly remarked, "I think President Yoon Seok-yeol badly misjudged."