South Korea, U.S. closely watching North Korea amid political turmoil in Seoul

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South Korea, U.S. closely watching North Korea amid political turmoil in Seoul

Published: 09 Dec. 2024, 13:06

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin attends a meeting at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday. [AFP/YONHAP]

The South Korean and U.S. militaries have been closely monitoring the security situation on the Korean Peninsula amid North Korea's continued silence over President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law last week.

There have been no unusual signs so far from the North Korean military since martial law was declared and lifted between Tuesday and Wednesday, a top U.S. military official said.

“There is a little bit of political uncertainty in Korea,” said Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, at a security conference held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on Saturday. “I am convinced that from a security standpoint, there is stability there.”

However, the U.S. military has strengthened surveillance of the North as Washington could not rule out the possibility of Pyongyang engaging in “opportunism” or provocations, taking advantage of the turmoil following the declaration of martial law, said Paparo.

“But thus far [there has been] no opportunism on that part,” Paparo said. “There is stability from a security standpoint presently. So it remains right now a purely political matter.”

Paparo also noted that South Korea has had peaceful protests, with no real fear of civil-military unrest.

The U.S. State Department further emphasized that the joint readiness posture of South Korea and the U.S. remains strong despite political uncertainties in Seoul, with top Pentagon officials maintaining “good communications” with their South Korean counterparts.

“I will just say the Department of Defense's senior leaders have been in regular contact with ROK counterparts,” a senior U.S. defense official said Sunday aboard an Air Force plane en route to Japan, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.

He said General Charles Q. Brown, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with his Korean counterpart, as did General Paul LaCamera, commander of U.S. Forces Korea.

U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo speaks during a joint press conference at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio on Aug. 29. [AFP/YONHAP]

“I've had a chance to speak with my counterpart as well,” the official added. “So we are in good communications with our important ally here.”

The official is accompanying Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who arrived in Tokyo on Sunday night. According to multiple reports, Austin had also planned a trip to Seoul but decided now was not an “appropriate time” following the declaration and lifting of martial law last week.

“We are committed to peace and security of the Korean Peninsula, and the American people and Korean people are standing shoulder to shoulder,” the official went on. "The ROK-U.S. combined posture remains strong, and we are ready to respond to any threats.

“The trilateral relationship between the U.S., Japan and ROK has been a top-tier priority of the Biden administration from the very start,” the official added.

Meanwhile, former U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, Jung Pak, said that Yoon “narrowly survived the impeachment vote” but that the martial law “really struck or fueled fears about what happened last time when a South Korean president under a military dictatorship had declared martial law” during an interview with American broadcaster CNN.

“Many conservative presidents in South Korea, if not all of them, have framed opposition or anybody that opposes the conservative government as communist or antistate,” explained Pak. “I will note that there was no evidence that North Korea has infiltrated South Korea in the way that the president was framing the issue, but that was a trope that has been used by conservative presidents to blame the other side for diminishing the power of the state.”

Pak further said the “repercussions of the martial law and the crisis of the presidential authority in South Korea will reverberate into the next weeks, months, potentially into 2027 when the next South Korean elections will take place,” adding that Yoon’s efforts on national security have been tainted by the martial law declaration.

“The U.S. government has been very much focused on rapprochement and building ties among the trilateral partners, and South Korea has been an anchor in so many of the U.S. and global security priorities whether it has been cyber, climate, nonproliferation — and of course we have an increasingly aggressive China that is not going away, we have North Korea and Russia cooperating in the war against Ukraine,” said Pak.

“This martial law declaration is really a stain on that excellent track record that Yoon has had on national security.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON, LEE JI-YOUNG, KIM HYOUNG-GU [[email protected]]