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White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. (AP/Yonhap)

The White House reiterated a message of deep concern over South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s recent abortive declaration of martial law and said it would continue to “speak out publicly” about the situation in South Korea.

When asked about the situation in South Korea following a speech Wednesday evening at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, asserted that South Korean democracy was “robust and resilient,” adding the US was “going to continue to speak out publicly and engage privately with South Korean counterparts to reinforce the importance of that continuing.”

Sullivan also said the martial law declaration “raised deep concern” for the US, calling it a “rather dramatic announcement” that “raised alarm bells everywhere.”

He further observed that Yoon had complied with the National Assembly’s decision to lift the martial law declaration, adding the US hoped to see South Korea’s democratic institutions functioning properly.

Sullivan also reiterated the US administration’s position that it had “learned about this [declaration] from the announcement on television, the same way the rest of the world did.”

Analysts interpreted the remarks about the White House continuing to “speak out publicly” about the situation in South Korea as signaling its intent to check the possibility of Yoon attempting further unconstitutional actions.

At a press conference following a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting the same day, US Secretary of State Tony Blinken called South Korea “one of the most powerful stories in the world about the emergence of democracy and democratic resilience.”

“We’re obviously watching the developments very closely,” he also said.

The attitude from the US administration is being taken as an overt expression of distrust toward Yoon. Some observers have speculated that this discontent was a factor behind the Pentagon’s announcement the day before that it was indefinitely postponing a 4th Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) meeting and inaugural NCG tabletop exercise that were originally scheduled to take place in Washington, DC, on Wednesday and Thursday.

US lawmakers have also been speaking out. Ami Bera, a Democratic Party representative who is considered one of the leading South Korea supporters among US politicians, issued a statement Wednesday saying that the “world witnessed the resilience of the Korean people and their elected representatives who acted swiftly to ensure that democracy and the rule of law would prevail.”

“I urge the leaders of the ROK to respect the will of the Korean people in accordance with South Korea’s Constitution as next steps are considered,” he also said.

By Lee Bon-young, Washington correspondent

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