South Korea declares emergency martial law, warns of ’’communist forces’’

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared an "emergency martial law" on Tuesday, accusing the country's opposition of controlling the parliament, sympathizing with North Korea and paralyzing the government with anti-state activities.

"To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea's communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements... I hereby declare emergency martial law," Yoon said in a live televised address to the nation.

"With no regard for the livelihoods of the people, the opposition party has paralyzed governance solely for the sake of impeachments, special investigations, and shielding their leader from justice," he added.

Yoon said he had no choice but to resort to martial law, but did not say what specific measures would be taken, the BBC reported.