NATO closely monitors situation in South Korea

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that NATO is closely monitoring developments in the Republic of Korea, a key regional partner. 

Rutte made these remarks upon arriving at a meeting of foreign ministers of NATO member states, Caliber.Az reports per Russian media.

He noted that however, NATO is refraining from commenting on any actions that may not align with democratic principles. 

"South Korea is one of NATO's key allies in the region. We are closely following the situation, but we are not commenting on it at this time," Rutte said.

He declined to answer questions about why he wasn't commenting on the actions of one of NATO's key allies moving away from democratic principles, stating that any comments at this point would be premature. 

Rutte also emphasised that South Korea holds critical importance for NATO in the Indo-Pacific region, alongside Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. However, he refused to comment on claims that the alleged political chaos in Seoul could benefit China, a country that NATO views as a strategic competitor. 

A plan of imposing martial law in South Korea failed because its proponents were unable to gain control of the South Korean military, except for special forces who arrived at the parliament by helicopter. Yoon Suk Yeol appointed Army Chief of Staff Park An-soo as the commander responsible for martial law, replacing the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who oversees all armed forces. 

Orders from Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and the martial law commander only affected special forces, which attempted to seize control of the National Assembly, as well as the command responsible for the defence of the capital. 

Ground operations commands and the units tasked with defending the capital did not participate in any activities related to martial law. Military dissatisfaction grew further after the National Assembly overwhelmingly voted to repeal martial law. Ultimately, martial law was lifted, and the military withdrew from the parliament.

By Naila Huseynova