US Senator-elect Andy Kim of New Jersey is closely monitoring the unrest in South Korea

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — It was an announcement that surprised the world: South Korea’s president declared a state of war.

Within hours he was forced to revoke this order, but before he did, chaos broke out.

Among the people watching the drama is a New Jersey lawmaker who has close family ties to South Korea.

READ MORE: South Korea’s State Council passes resolution to lift martial law

“My parents, me and my sister, we are the only part of our family that is in the United States. The rest of our family is back in Korea,” said U.S. Senator-elect Andy Kim (D – New Jersey).

He received news headlines about South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law. It was something he couldn’t believe at first.

“I couldn’t imagine that there was a declaration of martial law,” said Kim, the son of Korean immigrants.

He was as surprised as anyone else on Tuesday.

“It was surreal,” Kim said. “Honestly, it was really sad when I started to understand what happened.”

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The sudden declaration opened the floodgates of protest and prompted MPs to barricade themselves against the soldiers who voted against martial law.

It forced Yoon to reverse course and rescind the order just about six hours after it was issued.

A day later, Kim says his understanding is that things in South Korea are still tense.

“It seems like the threat of martial law has subsided,” Kim said, “but now there are still questions about what comes next.”

“It shocked people,” he said.

Opposition leaders say Yoon’s motivation for declaring martial law is political. Yoon is very unpopular in South Korea, a key U.S. ally.

“I am in regular contact with the White House. With the State Department and the leadership there,” said Kim, who also reached out to his constituents who have loved ones in South Korea.

U.S. officials say they were surprised by the declaration of martial law. There are now calls for Yoon to resign or be impeached.

Kim believes there is a message of democracy at the heart of it all.

“They should never be able to leave the boundaries of democracy unless there is an absolute national security crisis of the utmost importance,” Kim said. “Honestly, it was just crazy to do something like that.”