U.S. will continue to look to S. Korea to set example as ‘powerful’ democracy story: Blinken

The United States will continue to look to South Korea to set an example as one of the world’s “most powerful” stories about democratic resilience, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived emergency martial law declaration.

Blinken made the remarks during a press meeting in Brussels, responding to a question about whether it was a “mistake in retrospect” for South Korea to host the Summit for Democracy in March in light of the martial law order.

“I think Korea is one of the most powerful stories in the world about the emergence of democracy and democratic resilience, and we’ll continue to look to Korea to set that example,” the secretary told reporters.

He reiterated that Washington welcomed Yoon’s withdrawing of the martial law order and his respect for the National Assembly’s rejection of the decree, while underscoring that South Korea is one of America’s “closest” allies around the world.

“In our judgment, any political disputes need to be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the law,” he said.

“Korea has been an extraordinary success story over the last three or four decades, and the story that it tells of building the strong democracy and one again where we see the institutions functioning as they should, is one that we thought was important to amplify.”

Blinken was in Brussels to attend a North Atlantic Treaty Organization ministerial meeting.