Stability in a crucial democratic US ally has been upended by a night of political unrest in South Korea, sending shockwaves through the region and Washington at a time of extreme global stress.
The unexpected declaration of martial law by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday night was revoked hours later in the face of strong political opposition for what was generally perceived as a violation of the nation’s thriving democracy. Protests in Seoul and growing calls for the president’s resignation greeted the action, which Yoon said was required to “save the country against anti-state forces” attempting to topple the “constitutional order of liberal democracy.”
The stunning development appeared to catch Washington off guard. That’s an unnerving reality for the United States military, which has nearly 30,000 troops and its largest overseas base in South Korea, serving as a check against a belligerent North Korea and counterweight to an aggressive China in a strategically critical region.
The turmoil has the potential for significant ramifications at a moment of deepening geopolitical fault lines in Asia, where both North Korea and China are strengthening their alignment with Russia as it wages war on Ukraine.
Leaders in Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow are likely watching the developments in Seoul with an eye to its potential to undermine a key bastion of US power in the region – and all eyes are now on North Korea, which may be keen to use the political chaos to its advantage.The US-South Korea alliance has long been seen by both countries as a cornerstone of peace in the region, where North Korea continues to threaten South Korea and the US with its illegal weapons program.
That threat has only become more acute as North Korea has ramped up its partnership with Russia, sending ammunition, missiles, and soldiers, intelligence officials say, to aid Moscow’s war against Ukraine. “Any instability in South Korea has major ramifications for our Indo-Pacific policies,” retired US Col. Cedric Leighton told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, pointing to how US troops in the country are geared for a “fight tonight” scenario against North Korea. “The less stability there is in South Korea the worse it gets for us to fulfill our policy goals.”
US President Joe Biden has worked assiduously during his time in office to bolster the US partnership with South Korea, meeting Yoon multiple times, referring to the South Korean leader as a “great friend,” and earlier this year passing his “Summit for Democracy” to Yoon to host in South Korea. In response from queries from reporters, China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said it has “no comment” on South Korea’s internal affairs.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his officials in particular have watched with ire as the US has strengthened its partnerships with allies in the region – in the face of concerns in Washington about a growing threat from Beijing and its deepening security coordination with Moscow. And Yoon, who’s taken a harder line on North Korea than many of his predecessors, has been a willingly staunch partner of the US. The Yoon government has also suggested that deployment of North Korean troops into Ukraine could cause it to reassess the level of military support it gives to the war-torn country, to which it does not directly supply lethal arms. All that raises the international stakes for the current political moment, whatever its outcome for Yoon, according to Howell.
“At a time when South Korea’s interests in the Ukraine war have gained prominence, given North Korea’s now full-fledged involvement, Seoul’s cooperation with allies cannot be hampered by domestic division,” he said.
Source: Here
