South Korea President Yoon declares martial law

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday (December 3) declared martial law in an unannounced late night address broadcast live on YTN television, claiming he would eradicate "shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces."
He did not cite any specific threat from the nuclear-armed North, however, instead focusing on his domestic political opponents.
Yoon said he had no choice but to resort to such a measure in order to safeguard free and constitutional order, saying opposition parties have taken hostage of the parliamentary process to throw the country into a crisis.
The surprise move sent shockwaves through the country, which had a series of authoritarian leaders early in its history but has been considered democratic since the 1980s. The Korean won was down sharply against the U.S. dollar.