The potential impeachment of South Korea’s president after an aborted attempt to impose martial law may complicate U.S. efforts to increase pressure on China under President-elect Donald Trump by undermining American-led alliances in East Asia.
Since taking office in 2022, President Yoon Suk Yeol has steered South Korea away from economic dependence on China and bolstered trade with the U.S., its sole security treaty ally. At the same time, Yoon has broken through historical tensions with Japan to form closer military, diplomatic and economic ties.
The strengthening U.S.-South Korea-Japan relationship has been a key component of a broader Washington effort to stitch together partnerships across Asia seen as blunting Beijing’s ambitions. Yoon’s brief and botched attempt to declare martial law — and the president’s possible downfall as a result — is a "potentially huge setback” to those efforts, said Richard McGregor, senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute in Sydney.
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