<기사>Deputy Foreign Minister Calls US Ambassador Immediately After Martial Law Declaration

Kang In-seon, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Photo by Yonhap News

It has been confirmed that Kang In-seon, the Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, called Philip Goldberg, former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, immediately after the declaration of the emergency martial law on December 3rd to explain the martial law situation.

A Foreign Ministry official said on the 20th, "As the Foreign Minister has repeatedly stated in responses to the National Assembly, there was brief communication with the U.S. side immediately after the martial law declaration to share the situation."

In a recent farewell interview with a domestic media outlet, former Ambassador Goldberg revealed that on the night of the martial law, an official from the Foreign Ministry called him and read a statement related to the martial law, to which he expressed opposition.

Regarding this, Kim Jun-hyung, a member of the Party for National Innovation, claimed, "Since Vice Minister Kang has been communicating with the Presidential Office regularly and considering such circumstances, it is highly likely that he unilaterally supported the martial law to former Ambassador Goldberg."

In response, the Foreign Ministry official refuted, saying that the content explained by Vice Minister Kang was "a brief sharing of the situation at the time of martial law with the U.S. side, and he did not read any statement."

It has not been confirmed whether Minister Cho Tae-yeol was aware of Vice Minister Kang's call before the martial law was lifted.

Minister Cho Tae-yeol reportedly did not respond to Goldberg's expressed willingness to have a conversation. Regarding the reason, he explained in the National Assembly that "what matters more is the content of the communication," and that communication under such circumstances could mislead the other party (the U.S.).

Earlier, it was revealed belatedly that a deputy spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry sent explanatory messages to some foreign media two days after the declaration and lifting of the emergency martial law, justifying the martial law, and disciplinary procedures were taken.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.