Washington, Dec 4
A State Department spokesperson expressed the United States' hope that "laws" and "regulations" will be abided by in South Korea, as he addressed a question over whether the South Korean legislature's resolution demanding the lifting of emergency martial law should be observed.
Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel made the remarks on Tuesday after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law, accusing the opposition of paralysing the government with "anti-state activities," while the National Assembly passed the resolution to lift the decree.
"I am certainly no expert in South Korean law and certainly how the South Korean legislature works and what the ins and outs are of that," Patel told a press briefing as reported by Yonhap news agency.
"But certainly, it is our hope and expectation that the laws and regulations of a particular country are abided by by that particular country," he added.
Asked again if the laws and regulations also include the National Assembly's resolution calling for the lifting of martial law, Patel said, "That would be the case as well."
"But again, I'm just not going to get ahead of the process here," he said, noting that Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been briefed on the martial law declaration.
The spokesperson repeatedly underscored Washington's expectation that any "political" disputes in South Korea will be resolved "peacefully." But when asked if Washington saw the martial law declaration as being of a political nature, he refused to characterise it.
"It is not for us to characterise," he said.
"What we are attempting to do is continue to gather the facts and continue to gather the circumstances of what's happening on the ground, engage appropriately with our counterparts both here in the United States and at Seoul, and then monitor and make appropriate adjustments if needed as it relates to our personnel and our citizens."