WTH Extra! Martial Law in South Korea? Zack Cooper Explains

Late Tuesday night South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared
martial law, accusing the opposition party of “legislative
dictatorship” and vowing to eradicate “pro-North Korean
anti-state forces.” Almost as suddenly as martial law was
declared, the legislature voted unanimously for it to end –
sending the very military forces that attempted to lock down the
National Assembly packing. What do Yoon’s actions mean for the
future of South Korean politics? How might a collapse of South
Korea’s conservative party affect U.S.-Korean relations? And what
are the broader implications for American allies and partners in
Asia?


Zack Cooper is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise
Institute, where he studies US strategy in Asia, including
alliance dynamics and U.S.-China competition. He also teaches at
Princeton University and serves as chair of the board of the Open
Technology Fund. Zack previously served as the assistant to the
deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism at the
National Security Council and as a special assistant to the
principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy at the
Department of Defense. His upcoming book is Tides of Fortune: The
Rise and Decline of Great Militaries (Yale University Press,
2025).


Read the transcript here.


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