U.S. praises Korea’s democratic response to martial law fallout
Published: 16 Jan. 2025, 10:03
![State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller speaks during a press meeting at the Foreign Press Center in Washington on Dec. 18, 2024. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/16/d7c52f8f-7188-49fd-8466-7d8b0b7e6cee.jpg)
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller speaks during a press meeting at the Foreign Press Center in Washington on Dec. 18, 2024. [YONHAP]
A State Department spokesperson said Wednesday that Korea has illustrated the strength of its democratic foundation as the Asian country has been trying to address the aftermath of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched martial law bid last month.
Speaking in a press briefing, Matthew Miller, the spokesperson, made remarks in response to a reporter's question about Yoon having been taken into custody this week for a probe into his short-lived martial law imposition on Dec. 3.
"I think you heard the secretary speak to this ... every country, at times, faces tests to its democracy. We have faced very real tests to our democracy here in the United States. We've faced direct assaults on our democracy here in the United States," he said, apparently alluding to the attack on Capitol Hill in 2021.
"And what's important is how a country responds to those tests of its democracy, and what we have seen is South Korea respond to those tests in a way that illustrates the strength of its democratic foundation," he added.
Miller also said that questions surrounding Yoon's detention warrant ought to be answered "in accordance with South Korea's Constitution and the rule of law."
He recalled a recent visit to Seoul by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, noting how he saw Korea's democracy firsthand.
"I can tell you that one of the things that we saw firsthand in Korea was the country's democratic resilience at work," he said.
He used the briefing to underline the Biden administration's efforts to promote trilateral cooperation for security in the Indo-Pacific.
"You have seen us bring together South Korea and Japan in a way that I don't think very many people thought possible, and it is a great foundation for security in the Indo-Pacific," he said.
"And if there was anything I would recommend to the next administration ... [it] is to take that trilateral partnership and to build on it."
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)