The United States was not aware that South Korea's president intended to declare martial law, U.S. Secretary State Antony Blinken told Reuters on Wednesday, adding that he anticipated speaking to his South Korean counterpart in the coming days.

During his final news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomes President Yoon Suk Yeol's decision to lift his martial law order in response to the National Assembly's vote invalidating it.

In a stunning move that threw the nation into turmoil, South Korea's president, Yoon Suk Yeol, invoked martial law on Tuesday, only to reverse course six hours later. The decree, which brought temporary military control and the suspension of civilian government activities and civil liberties,