Due to the emergency martial law issue, South Korea was suddenly recognized as a travel risk country. Each country urged its citizens in South Korea to be cautious, and New Zealand raised its travel advisory level to South Korea. On the same day, New Zealand’s foreign ministry raised its travel advisory level to South Korea from “general safety and security precautions” to “more cautious” in the second stage. There are four stages of travel advisory in New Zealand, with the third stage being “non-essential travel restriction” and the fourth stage being “no travel.” The country’s foreign ministry also mentioned inter-Korean relations regarding political tensions. “North Korea has further heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula through several nuclear tests and regular ballistic missile tests,” the ministry said, warning of the possibility of heightened inter-Korean tensions.
Even after the lifting of the emergency martial law on the 4th, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul said, “The situation remains fluid,” adding, “U.S. citizens should pay attention to the surrounding situation and take daily safety precautions when they are in public in anticipation of potential confusion.”
“We are closely monitoring the situation in Korea,” a spokesperson for the European Union said in a statement. The German Embassy in Seoul said, “We are closely monitoring the current situation in accordance with Korean martial law and parliament’s response,” and advised its citizens to check their travel recommendations.
Russia, which is at war, also expressed its concern. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he would closely monitor the situation in Korea, saying that he was concerned. The Ukrainian Embassy in Seoul also said in an X-post that it was closely monitoring the situation in Korea regarding emergency martial law and urged its citizens to refrain from traveling to Korea, urging them to reconsider their visit unless it is absolutely necessary.
Japan and Singapore also informed their citizens in Korea to “remain calm and pay attention to announcements in the future.” Singaporean media outlet Straits Times said in an article on emergency martial law that Singaporeans who planned to travel to Korea would not cancel their trip, but were worried about the situation.
SALLY LEE
US ASIA JOURNAL
