South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol accepted the resignation of the minister of defense minister Kim Jong-hyun and nominated Choe Byung-hyuk for the post of the country's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the South Korean news agency reported “Yonhap“, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
Yun's office confirmed the nomination of Choe, who is a former army general.
The South Korean president's chief of staff called Choe “a man of principles who fulfills his duties with dedication and adheres to the rules”, Yonhap reports.
It was Kim who advised Yun to declare martial law on Tuesday, which was canceled after the parliament voted against this decision, Reuters recalls.
Meanwhile, the leader of the ruling People's Party, Han Dong-hu, said he would try to block a vote on the impeachment proceedings in parliament, but called on the president to leave the political establishment.
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol “made a bad judgment call” when he made his decision to declare martial law earlier this week and it was perceived as &ldquo "problematic and illegitimate," reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Campbell added that all senior officials in South Korea with whom the US side has contacted, including the president's office, were greatly surprised by Yun's decision.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said there are about 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea, but none of them were aware of Yun's intentions to declare martial law.
The president's national security adviser, Joe Biden, later told a Washington think tank that the US learned of the South Korean president's decision “from television, the same way the rest of the world did” and this has caused “deep concern” in Washington.
Campbell said events in South Korea were “very unpredictable and unusual”.
„I think President Yun made a bad judgment call. "I think the memory of the previous cases when martial law was declared has a deep and negative resonance in South Korea," he added.
Campbell said that in the next few months, South Korea will be in a “difficult situation” and the goal of the US will be to make it clear that its alliance with Seoul is “absolutely unshakable”.