BOK to hold emergency market response meeting over martial law declaration

Soldiers prepare to enter the main hall of the National Assembly in Seoul in the wee hours of Dec. 4, hours after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law the previous day, citing the need to root out pro-North Korea forces and uphold constitutional order. Yonhap

The Bank of Korea (BOK) will hold an emergency market response meeting Wednesday to check the impact of emergency martial law on the market and discuss necessary responses, bank officials said.

The meeting will take place early Wednesday morning, attended by all senior officials of the central bank, according to the BOK.

An extra session of the BOK’s monetary policy board is also scheduled to be held on the day to discuss the current situation and measures to stabilize the financial market, it added.

The move comes after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in an unscheduled late-night address Tuesday, accusing the opposition side of conducting “anti-state activities.”

Following the announcement, the Korean won had fallen sharply against the U.S. dollar and the cryptocurrency market had fluctuated.

BOK Gov. Rhee Chang-yong attended an emergency meeting presided by Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok where authorities vowed to mobilize “all possible market stabilization measures,” including “the injection of unlimited liquidity.”

It is the first time since 1979 that martial law has been declared in the country. (Yonhap)