US watching developments in South Korea "very closely," secretary of state says

 Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States is “obviously watching the developments very closely” in South Korea after President Yoon Suk Yeol imposed and then rescinded a martial law order.

“This is one of our closest partners and allies around the world,” Blinken said at a press conference in Brussels. “We welcome President Yoon’s statement withdrawing the martial law order, and there was a unanimous vote in the National Assembly to reject the decision, and he followed up on that.”

Asked if it was a mistake in hindsight for South Korea to host the Summit for Democracy earlier this year, Blinken said that South Korea “has been an extraordinary success story over the last three or four decades” of “building the strong democracy and one, again, where we see the institutions functioning as they should.”

“Of course, with Korea wanting to take on the summit for democracy, we were delighted at that, and we had a very successful summit,” Blinken added.

“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,” he said