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>> george washington university director festivals institute for korean studies. >> a short lived declaration of martial law. so, because of the e difference we got to watch what unfolded in korea in the middle of the night in the middle of the day here in washington. basically the president of south korea, yoon suk yeol, called a surprise emergency press conference without notifying many of his members of the cabinet or even his own ruling conservative party, people's power party. at the press conference he declared martial law. this is the first time since 1980 that a south korean leander has declared martial law and the first time has -- the first

times in south korea became a democracy in 1987. in 2.5 hours after the direct -- after the declaration, the 190 members of the national assembly, the legislative body in south korea, voted unanimously to ask the president to withdraw the declaration. this is basically from 11:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m., the drama that we watched unfold live with lots of media coverage. the military surrounded the national assembly and officially martial law prohibited political activity by lawmakers. but this 190 out of 300 that made it to vote in the national assembly got through the cordons of police and military to get into the building to vote. the speaker of the national assembly had to climb over a wall to get into the building. and they resoundingly announced

the declaration of military law with a unanimous vote, including 18 members of the president's own conservative party voting against the motion. and then we waited for the president to respond, which we did in korea time at about 4:00 a.m.. he was out and withdrew the martial law. korea was under martial law for about six hours on tuesday night. host: was this a play for political power or a political stunt? how do you interpret what happened? guest: to be honest a lot of observers are scratching their heads and trying to understand what the objective was because some observers have called it the nuclear option or this was political suicide for him. it is hard to see exactly what political benefits he got out of doing this. over the entirety of his term since may 2022, president yoon

suk yeol has faced a national assembly controlled by the opposition party. they are increasingly at loggerheads with each other. building over the last few months are not just legislative presidential deadlocks but really mutual mudslinging and attacks. example the opposition party in the national assembly has tried to impeach dozens of government officials in the yoon administration. they had not tried until yesterday to impeach the president himself. they also tabled many special investigations of the first lady and other members of the yoon administration. they have passed a variety of different laws that the president then vetoed. and he has used the presidential veto with unprecedented frequency. so really we have a mutual attack and unwillingness to

compromise. there is legislative deadlock, and increasingly the president seemed isolated and frustrated. and it might have been that this week there were a couple of triggers that lead him to take such extreme steps as declaring martial law. i think you people watching his increasing frustration what have expected such an extreme move. host: so important here because south korea is such a key u.s. allies and tens of thousands of u.s. service members are stationed along the border with north korea. reaction around the world, into -- including the u.s. secretary of state, he was seated -- speaking with the filipino company about the declaration. this is about a minute and a half. [video clip] >> we were not aware but obviously watching it carefully. it is good to see that the martial law edict was withdrawn by president yoon after the parliament voted against it.

and for us, this is one of the most critical alliances that we have anywhere in the world. south korean democracy is one of the most powerful stories anywhere in the world. it is very important that any disputes and differences, political differences be resolved peacefully and pursuant to the rule of law. that is what we are seeing now and that is what is important to sustain. >> you are saying that you well, rescinding of the martial law. do you mean that you do not think there was justification for it? >> i am not going to get into the decisions that were made, political decisions being made in south korea. all i can say as korea's staunch ally and a country believes that korea has such an important story to tell to the world because of the extraordinary emergence not only of a democracy but a strong and resilient democracy, we want to see that sustained because it is

in our interest and a partnership that is critical to us, but what it says to the world. it is important how our allies resolve any internal differences. we are watching it closely, but it is good to see that the martial law declaration was rescinded and the political process is moving pursuant to the rule of law. [end video clip] host: antony blinken. what do you think what happened in south korea, what does it do to the u.s.-south korea alliance? guest: i think the election of former president donald trump has led to a lot of uncertainty among korean officials about what is going to happen for the >> there's been a lot of uncertainty for korean officials for what happens in january and he takes space throws that much more uncertainty into alliance management.

that level of uncertainty going for alliance and many now the political domestic south koreaen instability adds a whole new level of relying on that yesterday and we have like new leadership turnover in the form of

t really about destroying the other side and both conservative party and opposition party controlling thestepping beyond the normal democratic procedure and institutions are not working.

not tolerating the other side as the president did and as pro north korea antistated forces chloric. >> talk about the democracy move in south korea.

>> yeah, last time we had marshal law declaration in south korea was 1980 and surpris of prodemocracyprising.

>> if a goal of korean liberalism is a more equal partnership with the united states, what are they envisioning that looks like?

jowski it's a trickyy balance to hold while engagingthe faction,

there are factions within the ruling party, but it's not clear yet how much discipline the party will exert over its members and we'll have to stay tuned for that.

the court ruled to uphold the impeachment of the president and in 2004,

>> heading towards the potential election and more than 40 differentth parties in korea overtime and they frequently reform and rename in part