South Korean stocks drop sharply in US trading

 South Korean stocks tumbled Tuesday after President Yoon Suk declared martial law in order to protect the country from “communist forces.”

The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, which trades in the US and includes close to 100 large and midsized South Korean companies, dropped by 6%. In UK trading, shares of Samsung, South Korea’s largest company, fell by 7%.

The US dollar jumped by around 2% against the won, which marked the lowest level since 2009 for the South Korean currency.

Yoon’s announcement came at 11 p.m. local time, with the stock market already closed. It is unclear if the stock exchange will open Wednesday. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok is planning an emergency meeting with officials from the Bank of Korea, the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, The Korea Times reported Tuesday.

South Korea is the world’s 13th-largest economy.