NEW YORK (Reuters) – The South Korean won dropped to a more than two-year low against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in an unannounced late night address live on YTN television.

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 South Korean unit fell to as low as 1,424.46 won per dollar, the lowest since November 2022. It was down 1.3% at 1,422.