WASHINGTON

The US will continue to be vocal about the importance of South Korea's democracy, US President Joe Biden's national security advisor said Wednesday in the wake of a short-lived martial law declaration. 

Jake Sullivan told a Washington-based thinktank that the Biden administration "was not consulted in any way" before South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol abruptly instituted martial law late Tuesday evening, describing the action as a "rather dramatic announcement that raised alarm bells everywhere."

He emphasized that South Korea's democratic "processes and procedures" worked in the immediate aftermath of Yoon's announcement, pointing to the National Assembly's vote overturning the order, and Yoon's decision to adhere to the legislature's will.

"South Korea's democracy is robust and resilient, and we're going to continue to speak out publicly and engage privately with South Korean counterparts to reinforce the importance of that continuing as we go forward," he said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In a late-night live televised address on Tuesday, Yoon declared martial law but was forced to lift it just hours later after lawmakers unanimously voted to block the order amid nationwide protests. Opposition parties subsequently filed an impeachment motion against Yoon.