An emergency meeting is held at the Bank of Korea following the lifting of martial law by President Yoon.

• An emergency meeting is being held by the Bank of Korea following the surprise martial law declaration made by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
• The extraordinary board meeting started around 9 a.m. local time Wednesday.
• In a surprising move, the BOK reduced its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points last week.

An emergency meeting is being held by the Bank of Korea following the surprise martial law declaration made by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

An extraordinary board meeting of the central bank was scheduled for 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday, following a 25 basis point cut in the benchmark interest rate last week.

At that moment, Yonhap reported that South Korea's financial regulator was ready to allocate 10 trillion won ($7.07 billion) to a stock market stabilization fund.

On Tuesday night, Yoon declared martial law and mobilized the army. However, within hours, the National Assembly voted to overturn the emergency order, forcing Yoon to lift martial law early Wednesday morning. The military units that were deployed have also been withdrawn, Yoon announced.

Citi analysts believe that the negative impact on the economy and financial market may be temporary due to the proactive policy response that could quickly mitigate uncertainties in the political and economic environment.

On Wednesday, South Korea's Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok pledged to inject unlimited liquidity into financial markets to maintain stability.

On Tuesday, the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY) experienced significant fluctuations in the U.S. as it tracks more than 90 large and mid-sized companies in South Korea. The ETF tumbled as much as 7% to hit a 52-week low before cutting losses to close 1.6% lower, amid political turmoil in Korea.

South Korea's stock markets started trading at the usual 9 a.m. KST.