By Brian Swint

South Korea has moved to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol as its central bank was forced to take emergency action to reassure markets.

The moves appeared to have calmed investors with the KOSPI, the country's stock market, finishing 1.4% lower and the Korean won was little changed against the dollar.

The biggest-name stocks were mixed--electronics firm Samsung retreated 0.9%, semiconductor maker SK Hynix rose 1.9%, while LG Energy Solution declined 2% on Wednesday. Auto maker Hyundai fell 2.6%, but rival Kia rose 0.1%.

Those moves followed a dramatic turn when the president declared martial law for the first time since 1979, after which members of parliament had to break into their own building to vote to overturn the order. The president's cabinet then rescinded it. Impeachment proceedings are now under way against Yoon, his senior aides have offered to resign, and unions have launched indefinite strikes until he steps down.

"Martial law itself has been lifted but this incident creates more uncertainty in the political landscape and the economy," said Min Joo Kang, an analyst at ING. "In the wake of the last presidential impeachment, consumer and business sentiment took a significant hit and economic activity slowed."

The Bank of Korea announced emergency actions, including increasing short-term liquidity measures and loosening collateral policies to ensure that banks have plenty of funds. The finance ministry also said it would do what it can to help keep the financial system running smoothly.

The iShares MSCI South Korea exchange-traded fund, a proxy of Korean stocks that trades on the U.S. market, rose 0.2% in Wednesday's premarket. Shares in U.S.-listed Coupang, an online retailer that sells goods in South Korea, was little changed after declining 3.7% Tuesday.

Write to Brian Swint at brian.swint@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 04, 2024 06:08 ET (11:08 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.