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South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday declared emergency martial law, saying the measure was necessary to protect the country from "communist forces".

"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. 

It wasn’t immediately clear how the steps would affect the country’s governance and democracy.

Yoon — whose approval rating has dipped in recent months — has struggled to push his agenda against an opposition-controlled parliament since taking office in 2022.

Yoon’s conservative People Power Party had been locked in an impasse with the liberal opposition Democratic Party over next year’s budget bill.

He has also been dismissing calls for independent investigations into scandals involving his wife and top officials, drawing quick, strong rebukes from his political rivals.

The Democratic Party reportedly called an emergency meeting of its lawmakers following Yoon's announcement.

The move also comes after the North designated South Korea a "hostile state" and no longer a partner in the goal of unification, breaking from decades of policy and dramatically escalating tension with hostile rhetoric throughout the year.

South Korea said last Friday it had completed development of a new ballistic missile interceptor, adding a further layer to defence systems deployed to protect against missile threats from neighbouring North Korea.

North Korea has tested a range of ballistic missiles in the past five years, steadily advancing its arsenal, including shorter-range missiles designed to strike targets in South Korea, which Pyongyang has designated a "primary foe."

The neighbours have clashed in naval gun fights, and in 2010 an artillery attack by the North struck a South Korean island, but the North has not yet fired a missile against the South.

In 2022, a short-range ballistic missile fired from the North's east coast crossed south of the de facto maritime border to land in international waters, prompting the South to launch missiles as a countermeasure.