U.S. Embassy Denies Claims of Ambassador Goldberg Saying He ‘Couldn’t Deal With’ President Yoon

The U.S. Embassy in South Korea has refuted claims made by Kim Jun Hyung, a member of the National Assembly from the People’s Power Party, regarding U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg’s alleged criticism of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s handling of the state of emergency.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in South Korea stated on its official X (formerly Twitter) account: “While we do not reveal details of diplomatic conversations, allegations made in the media by Rep. Kim Joon-hyung regarding supposed comments by U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg are utterly false.”

Although the embassy did not specifically address Kim’s comments, the statement is widely understood to respond to remarks made during the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee meeting. During this meeting, Kim claimed that Goldberg had reported to Washington on the day martial law was declared that he could not reach Foreign Minister Cho Tae Yul and other officials, allegedly stating that he couldn’t “deal with” the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

Kim further claimed that ambassadors from five major countries met last Friday and decided to boycott all international summits, including the APEC in Gyeongju if Yoon remains president.

In response to these allegations, the British Embassy in South Korea told Yonhap News that claims regarding the UK’s non-participation in APEC are “inaccurate.” Reports suggest that Australia intends to continue supporting Korea’s hosting of the APEC summit, as evidenced by its recent participation in the informal senior officials’ meeting for the 2025 APEC.

Diplomatic sources have reported that ambassadors from the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance—the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand—met on December 6 to discuss the situation following the declaration of a state of emergency.