SEOUL: South Korean shares fell on Wednesday after the nation's president declared martial law and then rescinded it hours later in the biggest political crisis in decades in Asia's fourth-largest economy.
The won partially recovered after an earlier sharp drop, while the benchmark bond yield rose.
The benchmark KOSPI was down 41.70 points, or 1.67 per cent, at 2,458.40 as of 04:11 GMT.
Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics fell 1.12 per cent and peer SK Hynix gained 0.55 per cent, while battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 1.64 per cent.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Wednesday he would lift a surprise martial law declaration he had imposed just hours before, backing down in a standoff with parliament which roundly rejected his attempt to ban political activity and censor the media.
South Korea's finance ministry said on Wednesday it was ready to deploy "unlimited" liquidity into financial markets in the wake of the political crisis that sent the won diving to multi-year lows.
Hyundai Motor shed 2.56 per cent and sister automaker Kia Corp lost 0.92 per cent, while search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao were down 2.87 per cent and up 7.33 per cent, respectively.
Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 467.0 billion won on the main board on Wednesday.
The won was quoted at 1,415.4 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.68 per cent higher than its previous close at 1,425.0. Earlier, the South Korean currency fell to a low of 1,442.0, the weakest in nearly two years.
The won has slumped 9.0 per cent against the dollar so far this year.
The KOSPI has fallen 7.41 per cent so far this year, and lost 2.7 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.
In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 0.01 point to 106.88.
The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.1 basis points to 2.590 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.8 basis points to 2.724 per cent.