UNCERTAIN FUTURE UNDER TRUMP
As South Korea struggles to contain the fallout from the turmoil across financial and foreign exchange markets, Seoul must navigate an uncertain future with its ally the United States under Trump.
Yoon was impeached on Saturday and the Constitutional Court will decide whether to remove him from office or restore his power. He has been suspended from presidential duties, which means if the court takes months to decide his fate he will be unable to deal with Trump after his Jan 20 inauguration.
After the martial law attempt, Washington had issued unusually blunt criticism, with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell calling Yoon’s decision “badly misjudged”.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday he had not predicted the martial law attempt but likened it to the Jan 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.
“I think it’s important for us to recognise that dramatic events happen even in highly advanced, consolidated democracies,” Sullivan said at an event. “The real test is, can the democratic institutions hold at the end of the day, even if they bend.”
Finance Minister Choi said the government would utilise all available resources to manage the economy as stably as possible and actively respond to excessive volatility in foreign exchange.
Cho and Choi were among cabinet ministers who had openly opposed Yoon’s plan for martial law at a late-night meeting convened shortly before his declaration.
Cho, testifying at parliament last week, said he had warned it was serious enough to “destroy all the achievements the country has made over the last 70 years”, but added that Yoon ignored his repeated plea to reconsider.
“The last time martial law was imposed in Korea was in 1979 when I joined the foreign ministry,” Cho told the news conference, adding he was “stunned” by the decision and had never imagined it recurring 45 years later.
Trump has also raised prospects for a negotiated end to Russia’s war against Ukraine, but Cho said it would take some time until it happened and there was a need to respond to North Korea’s dispatch of troops to Russia while monitoring the situation.
On China, Cho said President Xi Jinping was expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea in 2025, which would mark his first visit to the country in 11 years.
He also described Beijing’s decision to extend visa-free entry to South Koreans as part of both sides’ high-level strategic communication and efforts to improve ties and said Seoul was also exploring possible reciprocal measures.
