The administration of outgoing President Joe Biden, which lacked any coherent policy towards the Korean peninsula for the four years it was in power, had little meaningful input and appeared to be caught by surprise at the shock declaration of martial law in Seoul on Tuesday.
President Yoon Suk-yeol announced late on Tuesday that he would impose martial law, allegedly to combat obstructionism by the majority Democratic Party in the National Assembly. Yoon claimed turning to military rule was necessary to fight the federal legislature, which he described as a “den of criminals,” and protect the country from unspecified “North Korean communist forces.”
Yoon’s martial law collapsed within hours as lawmakers rushed to the National Assembly, pushing through throngs of heavily armed soldiers, to vote unanimously against the measure. Democratic Party lawmakers, including party leader and Yoon’s presidential rival Lee Jae-myung, filmed themselves climbing over fences and scaling walls to reach the legislative chamber.
The National Assembly voted against the martial law measure at around 1:00 a.m. local time and Yoon withdrew his declaration shortly thereafter.
Yoon is now facing a formal impeachment, filed on Wednesday and supported by six political parties. The impeachment process would require two-thirds of the National Assembly to support it, which would mean eight members of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) would have to vote to oust him.
President Biden is currently in Angola, announcing billion-dollar spending plans to help displaced Africans. White House officials said that Yoon, who has touted his close relationship with Biden in the past and serenaded him with a performance of “American Pie” at the White House, did not notify Washington of any such measure before his national address announcing martial law.
“The U.S. was not notified in advance of this announcement. We are seriously concerned by the developments we are seeing on the ground in the ROK [South Korea],” a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council told reporters shortly after Yoon’s announcement. “The Administration is in contact with the ROK government and is monitoring the situation closely as we work to learn more.”
White House authorities also said that Biden had been “briefed” on the situation, without elaborating. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a formal statement on Tuesday saying that he and his officials had “watched closely” the events after Yoon’s announcement.
“We welcome President Yoon’s statement that he would rescind the order declaring emergency martial law in accordance with the ROK Constitution, after the National Assembly’s unanimous vote to reject the declaration,” Blinken said. “We continue to expect political disagreements to be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the rule of law. We reaffirm our support for the people of Korea and the U.S.-ROK alliance based on shared principles of democracy and the rule of law.”
The Biden administration did not at any point outright condemn the martial law declaration, though it distanced itself from it and declared itself relieved following the lifting of the order.
Speaking with the South Korean Yonhap News Agency, American Ambassador to Seoul Philip Goldberg admitted on Thursday that the declaration was a “surprise” to Washington.
“It came as a surprise. I was awakened by the news shortly after the president’s announcement … we watched it like everyone else unfold,” Goldberg said. “We were concerned about the events of last night. At the same time, we’re encouraged by the resilience of Korean democracy. The United States supports that democracy and the people of Korea to resolve issues peacefully, democratically and constitutionally.”
Goldberg reiterated the common Biden administration line that Washington’s support for South Korea is “ironclad.”
Biden and Yoon have maintained an outwardly friendly relationship since Yoon won the bitterly contested 2022 presidential election against Lee, the head of the Democratic Party. The absence of urgency on the part of the Biden administration to address the threat of communist North Korea has caused simmering tensions between the two administrations that pushed Biden to take dramatic measures to redirect the relationship. Yoon has prioritized throughout his presidency taking a hard line against North Korea, including threatening severe military action when confronted with dictator Kim Jong-un’s call for his country to pursue an “exponential increase” in the number of nuclear warheads it possesses.
“The Republic of Korea could deploy tactical nuclear weapons or possess its own nukes,” Yoon said in public remarks shortly after Kim’s call for an “exponential increase” in weapons. Developing indigenous nuclear weapons is a popular policy in South Korea, though highly discouraged by America, the United Nations, and most of the free world.
In July of 2023, Biden sent the USS Kentucky, a nuclear ballistic missile submarine, to the southern port city of Busan, the first visit of its kind since 1981. Yoon, aboard the submarine, made clear that the intent of the visit was to threaten North Korea with nuclear retaliation should it choose to attack the South.
“The USS Kentucky’s deployment shows clearly the commitment of South Korea and the United States to regularly deploy U.S. strategic assets and strengthen the credibility of extended deterrence,” Yoon said during his tour of the vessel.
Biden’s absence of leadership on Korean issues has also led Yoon to aggressively court support from the rest of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), warning months before the first reports of North Korean troops preparing for war in Ukraine that Pyongyang presented an imminent threat to Europe.