Home > National > Diplomacy

Yoon 'badly misjudged' martial law declaration: U.S. senior envoy

Published: 05 Dec. 2024, 08:44 Updated: 05 Dec. 2024, 09:36

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell attends a meeting with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders and U.S. business representatives as part of the U.S-ASEAN Special Summit in Washington in May. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said President Yoon Suk Yeol “badly misjudged” his six-hour imposition of emergency martial law this week, saying that Korea’s past experience with such events has “deep and negative” implications.

“What transpired over the last 24 hours in South Korea was completely, deeply unpredictable and unlikely, and I think President Yoon badly misjudged," Campbell said during the Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday. “I think the memory of previous experiences of martial law has a deep and negative resonance in South Korea.”

Campbell predicted that South Korea would face significant challenges in the aftermath of the incident but reaffirmed the United States' commitment to its alliance with Seoul.

"Our goal is to make clear that our alliance is absolutely rock solid," he said. "We stand with them, but ultimately to have the confidence that they will be able to work through these issues, through their own means and their own mechanisms. And we have confidence in that."

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]