White House: ‘Korean Crisis Not Over’ Next Secretary of State: ‘China Attempts to Reorganize Regional Order’
The White House National Security Advisor diagnosed that ‘the Korean crisis is not over’, and the New Zealand Ambassador to Korea stated immediately after leaving office that “President Yoon has shown dictatorial tendencies since the April elections,” and the Republican Party’s next US Secretary of State brought up ‘China’s attempts to reorganize regional order.’
In a conversation on the 17th, Advisor Jake Sullivan said in response to a question about ‘Korean martial law,’ “I don’t think we’re completely out of the crisis until everything is decided through the courts,” but added, “However, Korea’s (democratic) system is maintained.” In a talk at the community center 92NY in New York, Sullivan said that the “real test” of the martial law situation is whether democratic institutions, even if broken, can ultimately be maintained.
He mentioned “the dramatic moments when protesters pushed back the guns of soldiers deployed to blockade Congress in an attempt to block the adoption of a resolution to lift martial law,” and explained that “the processes are now working,” according to a report by Voice of America (VOA) on the 19th.
Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State for the second term, said on the 18th that China may try to exploit political instability in Korea in relation to the impeachment of the South Korean president. When asked by a VOA reporter whether there were concerns that China might try to use Korea’s political instability to reorganize the regional order in its favor, Republican Senator Rubio said, “They will definitely try to do that,” adding, “I think Korea’s (political) system is quite strong and stable,” and “(China’s actions) are not in Korea’s best interest.”
Philip Turner, who served as New Zealand’s ambassador to Korea until last year, told Reuters that “President Yoon has shown authoritarian tendencies, especially since the April general elections, but this was seen as a typical show of political power.”
Reuters reported on the 19th that “the conservative President Yoon has won wide praise from Western capitalists for his signature policy goals of promoting freedom, human rights and the rule of law to make Korea a ‘global hub nation.’ This policy has led Korea to more openly side with Washington and NATO in conflict zones such as the South China Sea, Taiwan and Ukraine, but critics say it has masked growing problems at home.”
Regarding the declaration of martial law, Reuters said it was the first time it had been used since 1980, and for many South Koreans, the measure “rekindled memories of right-wing rule by military strongmen who benefited from their ties to Washington.”
Reuters continued, “President Yoon has been widely welcomed in Washington and other Western capitals for his rhetoric on defending democracy and freedom around the world, and was invited to a rare speech to the U.S. Congress last year, where he mentioned freedom and democracy a total of 55 times.” “President Yoon has clashed with opposition lawmakers whom he has characterized as pro-North Korea and anti-state forces, and press freedom groups have criticized his hard-line stance against media reports he deems negative. President Yoon shocked the nation and the world three days later by granting the military sweeping emergency powers to root out so-called ‘anti-state forces’ and suppress political opposition.”
The Office of the President distributed to foreign reporters on the 5th through the deputy spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “This emergency martial law is a decision made by the President of the Republic of Korea, who is a constitutionalist and worships the constitutional order of liberal democracy more than anyone else.”
In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated at the National Assembly on the 16th, “It is not a distribution, but a delivery.”
Unlike Article 1 of the Constitution, the Office of the President reaffirmed the “establishment of an extreme right-wing ideological system through martial law” by using the expression “worship of liberal democracy” to foreign media outlets.
At a foreign press conference on the 19th, when asked whether martial law was unconstitutional, attorney Seok Dong-hyun said, “President Yoon has allowed the opposition party to take control of the National Assembly and He responded, “We see the situation of cutting the government budget and impeaching public officials as a ‘state of emergency’ and grounds for declaring martial law,”
Reuters reported in an article about the announcement by the South Korean National Intelligence Service to the National Assembly on the 19th that “100 North Korean soldiers were killed and 1,000 were injured,” saying, “The report reiterated statements by U.S. and Ukrainian officials that North Korean soldiers suffered heavy losses and that Russia was using North Korean soldiers on a large scale in its attack on the Kursk region of Russia, where Ukraine invaded across the border in August.”
See <Trump Special Envoy ‘January Investigation of Europe’, Department of Defense ‘Signs of North Korean Soldiers’ Media Manipulation, December 18, 2024>