NEW YORK, December 3. /TASS/. The introduction of martial law in South Korea has caused a sharp drop in the country's assets, Bloomberg reports.

The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF lost 5.1% in U.S. trading, its biggest intraday loss since August 5. The country's largest company, Samsung Electronics, lost almost 7% on the London Stock Exchange. The South Korean won fell to a two-year low against the U.S. dollar.

South Korean depositary receipts (ADRs) also declined. Shares of e-commerce company Coupang Inc. fell 6.9%, while shares of steelmakers Posco Holdings Inc. and financial group KB Financial Group Inc. also showed significant losses.

As Bloomberg notes, the question of the impact of martial law on the activities of leading chip makers remains open. In particular, the stability of the supply of high-speed memory chips from SK Hynix, which are critical for Nvidia's advanced semiconductors, may affect the development of global artificial intelligence technologies.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday declared "emergency martial law." The president said he had imposed martial law because the opposition, which makes up a majority in parliament, paralyzes the work of the executive branch of power by attempting to impeach of its executives, including key figures in the government. He according to the president, he introduced the measure to combat "pro-North Korean elements" and protect constitutional order. He also cited the opposition’s refusal to accept the cabinet’s budget proposal. Democratic Party Chairman Lee Jae-myung, the country’s leading opposition politician, called the decision unconstitutional.