U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to South Korea on Monday as an affirmation of continued support for the East Asian country as it struggles to navigate a historic constitutional crisis.
South Korea remains in a chaotic limbo — federal authorities are struggling to come up with a plan to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is bunkered inside his Seoul residence.
Speaking at a press conference alongside South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, Blinken alluded to the United States’s own past challenges in maintaining government order and affirmed that the trans-Pacific relationship will remain strong.
“I think what we’ve seen in our own country, as well as in other democracies that have faced challenges, there has been a response that has been openly transparent, that doesn’t pretend we don’t have problems or challenges, that confronts them, that confronts them directly,” Blinken told the audience.
“Our relationship is bigger than any one leader, any one government, any one party,” he stated.
Blinken did not offer a detailed analysis of the South Korean political crisis but conveyed that the U.S. government has “serious concerns” about Yoon’s brief declaration of martial law last month that led to his impeachment.
Yoon is bunkered inside his Seoul residence, where a legion of supporters waving South Korean and American flags stay in vigil and push back against law enforcement attempts to enter the building.
Thousands of protesters on both sides of the political feud demonstrate daily in Seoul — activists demanding the swift apprehension of the impeached president marched not far from his house on Sunday, carrying signs urging his arrest.
The president is protected by his well-armed presidential security personnel, who previously formed a human barricade to prevent police officers from advancing into the residence.
Yoon’s lawyers filed a complaint on Monday claiming that the attempt to arrest the president was an illegal operation. They also complained about the failure to provide the requested backup for presidential security.
The acting government is now desperately trying to come up with a plan to arrest Yoon without igniting a civil conflict.
All parties are eagerly awaiting Yoon’s impeachment to be taken up by the nation’s Constitutional Court, which is vested with the power to affirm or reject the decision.
If the impeachment is affirmed, Yoon would be unceremoniously stripped of office — but it could take months for the high court to hear the case properly and arrive at a final decision.
The volatile climate is further complicated by South Korea’s belligerent northern neighbor.
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North Korea launched a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan on Monday, according to South Korean military intelligence. It was their first such launch in two months, breaking a pattern of nonaggression held since President-elect Donald Trump won the November election.
Blinken warned during his press conference that the U.S. has “reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang.”