South Korea martial law: Singapore’s embassy in Seoul ‘closely monitoring’ situation

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s embassy in Seoul said on Tuesday (Dec 3) that it is “closely monitoring” the situation in South Korea after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in an unannounced late-night address broadcast live on national television.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday (Dec 3), the embassy said that so far, the martial law announcement “does not seem to be related to any military incursions”.
“We urge all Singaporeans in the Republic of Korea to stay calm and monitor the news,” it added.
“The embassy will provide more details as soon as we have more updates.”
Singaporeans in South Korea are recommended to register online with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) if they have not already done so.
According to South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 165,000 Singaporeans visited the country in 2022. As of 2021, there were more than 650 Singaporeans living in South Korea.
The White House said it was “closely” monitoring the situation and it is in contact with the South Korean government.
The Chinese embassy urged its citizens in South Korea to exercise “caution”. It advised “Chinese nationals in South Korea to remain calm … enhance safety awareness, limit unnecessary outings, exercise caution when expressing political opinions”.
Yoon said on Tuesday night that he had no choice but to resort to such a measure in order to safeguard free and constitutional order, saying opposition parties have taken hostage of the parliamentary process to throw the country into a crisis.
He also accused the opposition Democratic Party of anti-state activities and said the government administration has been paralysed because of its conduct.
“I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order,” Yoon said.