By Josh Smith
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has vowed to make his country a “pivotal global state,” faced immediate international diplomatic fallout on Wednesday after his failed attempt to impose martial law.
Yoon declared martial law in a live television speech late Tuesday night, only to reverse course six hours later after parliament defied police and special forces cordons to vote to block the measure.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who was due to hold a summit with Yoon this week, will not attend the planned visit, his spokesman said Wednesday.
“Taking into account recent events, we have decided to postpone the visit,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The United States, South Korea’s main ally, has indefinitely postponed Nuclear Consultative Group meetings and related military exercises, a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The NCG is a signature effort by Yoon aimed at having South Korea play a larger role in allied planning for a possible nuclear war on the peninsula.
About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea and it was not immediately clear whether other joint military exercises would be affected. A spokesman for U.S. Forces Korea did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. and South Korean militaries are “in contact,” the Pentagon said Tuesday, adding that there was no request for assistance from Seoul amid the unfolding events.
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said at a news conference that he also did not believe the declaration of martial law had had any significant impact so far on U.S. troops, some of whom work in combined commands with the South Korean army.
A White House spokesperson previously said the United States was not notified before Yoon’s announcement, adding: “We are seriously concerned about the developments we are seeing on the ground.”
The declaration of martial law casts doubt on a possible visit next week by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Japanese media reported that he would meet with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts as part of trilateral efforts advocated by Yoon.
The group of Japanese lawmakers on Korean affairs led by former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga canceled a visit to Seoul scheduled for mid-December, according to Akihisa Nagashima, a special adviser to Japan’s prime minister who was due to travel with the group.
“The turmoil in South Korea’s domestic politics since last night remains alarming,” Nagashima wrote in a post on X.
“It is a tense situation in which the fate of the Yoon administration must be closely watched to see whether it will be able to overcome the fierce public opposition.”
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba earlier told reporters that Tokyo was following the situation “with special and grave interest.”
Duyeon Kim of the Center for a New American Security said Yoon’s international reputation as a symbol of democracy had been ruined.
“The fate of Yoon’s foreign policy remains uncertain and even bleak,” he added.