US Says SKorea's Yoon Badly Misjudged Martial Law Decree

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Wednesday that South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol "badly misjudged" his decision to declare martial law this week, calling the move "deeply problematic" and "illegitimate."

Asked at an event organized by the Aspen Strategy Forum whether it was an intelligence failure that the U.S. was caught unaware by a key ally, Campbell said almost all U.S. interlocutors in South Korea, including in the president's office, were "deeply surprised" by Yoon's move.

Yoon's declaration of emergency martial law Tuesday night was accompanied by a pledge to eliminate "shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces at a single stroke," according to The Associated Press.

He vowed to protect the country from “falling into the depths of national ruin." Yoon, a conservative, cited repeated attempts by his liberal rivals in control of parliament to impeach his top officials and curtail key parts of his budget bill for next year.

Parliament overturned the edict, and Yoon's rivals on Wednesday took steps to impeach him.