A man waves his phone that displays “Arrest Yoon Suk Yeol” outside of the gates to the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, early Dec. 4, 2024. (David Choi/Stars and Stripes)
The United States appeared caught off guard by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s decision to impose emergency martial law on his country Tuesday night, according to government spokesmen in Washington, D.C.
At the Pentagon, spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the U.S. military was not apprised by its South Korean counterparts of its role in Yoon’s plan for martial law.
“To my knowledge the U.S. was not notified in advance of this announcement,” he told reporters.
Ryder said U.S. military leaders have been in contact with South Korean military leaders since events unfolded in Seoul. Yoon acceded to a National Assembly vote demanding he rescind the martial law order soon after he imposed it.
“I’m not going to go into specifics on who and when at this point but again we’re in contact and I’ll just leave it there,” Ryder added.
He said the Defense Department saw no changes in North Korea’s defense posture overnight.
The U.S. response the following day to Yoon’s declaration, and that of Japan’s Cabinet, reflected caution but repeated support for the three-party security partnership reached by President Joe Biden at Camp David, Md., in August 2023.
That agreement eased Japan and South Korea into a closer relationship through its common ally, the U.S., and resulted in several three-way military exercises in the past year.
“We’re going to continue to consult with [South Korea] and see how things develop,” Ryder said. “Certainly, the advances that have been made in terms of the trilateral relationship between [South Korea], Japan and the U.S. is very important and is something that will continue to be important to us.”
Vedant Patel, a spokesman for the State Department, and Ryder repeated that the U.S. is continuing its “ironclad commitment” to the U.S.-South Korean alliance despite the events in Seoul. Both said their departments are monitoring the situation and that U.S. troops and citizens, so far, face no changed circumstances on the peninsula.
“What we’re focused on right now is continuing to gather the facts, monitor the situations on the ground, and expect this to be fully resolved peacefully and in – consistent with the rule of law,” Patel said.
The State Department recommended that Americans in South Korea keep attuned to local news but otherwise the risk level for travelers remained the same, at Level 1, or normal caution, he said.
The 28,500 U.S. troops in Korea were not significantly impacted by events Tuesday night and Wednesday morning in Seoul, Ryder said.
“In any of these types of situations, you want to make sure that you’re paying attention that you’re checking in with your unit, making sure that there’s accountability, but I’m not aware at this point of any significant impact,” he said.
During a televised news conference in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he knew of no reports of harm or damage to Japanese citizens in South Korea since Tuesday.
“I am not in a position to comment on the domestic affairs of other countries,” he said. “However, since the declaration of martial law last night, we have been closely monitoring the situation with particular and grave interest.
“We will continue to take every possible measure to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals in South Korea,” he said.
Stars and Stripes reporter Hana Kusumoto contributed to this report.
