South Korea LIVE: Latest updates as President Yoon Suk Yeol declares martial law as police clash with protesters outside Parliament

Hundreds of disgruntled citizens reacted to the President’s speech by marching on the parliament building in Seoul, with shocking images showing dozens of riot cops and armed police officers pushing back enraged rioters outside the National Assembly as night fell.

Meanwhile, news cameras captured the moment helicopters descended from the evening skies and landed on top of the parliament building before troops disembarked and began locking down the location.

The move comes as a complete shock in the Western-aligned Asian nation of more than 50 million which despite escalating tensions with its foe to the North is not fighting an active war and has not suffered attacks on its soil.

The president labelled the opposition, which holds a majority in the 300-member parliament, as ‘anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime’.

Yoon described the imposition of martial law as ‘inevitable to guarantee the continuity of a liberal South Korea,’ adding that it would not impact the country’s foreign policy.

‘I will restore the country to normalcy by getting rid of anti-state forces as soon as possible,’ he said, without elaborating further other than the martial law in place.

He described the current situation as South Korea ‘on the verge of collapse, with the National Assembly acting as a monster intent on bringing down liberal democracy’.

Yoon’s People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party are bitterly at odds over next year’s budget.

Opposition MPs last week approved a significantly downsized budget plan through a parliamentary committee.

The opposition has slashed approximately 4.1 trillion won ($2.8 billion) from Yoon’s proposed 677 trillion won budget plan, cutting the government’s reserve fund and activity budgets for Yoon’s office, the prosecution, police and the state audit agency.

President Yoon’s stunning announcement – South Korea’s first declaration of martial law in more than 40 years – came as his his party and the opposition bicker over the budget.

In a televised address, he said:

‘To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness, I hereby declare emergency martial law.’

Yoon did not give details of the North’s threats, but the South remains technically at war with nuclear-armed Pyongyang.

‘With no regard for the livelihoods of the people, the opposition party has paralysed governance solely for the sake of impeachments, special investigations, and shielding their leader from justice,’ Yoon added.

‘Our National Assembly has become a haven for criminals, a den of legislative dictatorship that seeks to paralyse the judicial and administrative systems and overturn our liberal democratic order.’

With martial law imposed, all military units in the South have been ordered to strengthen their emergency alert and readiness postures, Yonhap news agency reported.

China, a key ally of North Korea, urged its nationals in the South to stay calm and exercise caution.

South Korea’s National Assembly has passed a resolution calling for the martial law order to be rescinded.

South Korea’s parliament, with 190 of its 300 members present, passed a motion on Wednesday requiring the martial law declared by President Yoon Suk Yeol to be lifted.

Under South Korean law, martial law can be lifted with a majority vote in the parliament, where the opposition Democratic Party holds a majority.

National Assembly speaker Woo Won Shik, in an emergency statement released on his YouTube channel, called for all legislators to gather immediately at the National Assembly and urged military and law enforcement personnel to “remain calm and hold their positions”.

Earlier today, President Yoon declared martial law in a move he claimed wad to protect the country, yet he did not cite any specific threat from the nuclear-armed North, instead focusing on his domestic political opponents.

It is the first time since 1980 that martial law has been declared in South Korea.

South Korea has had a series of authoritarian leaders early in its history but has been considered democratic since the 1980s.

These photographs illustrate the chaos gripping South Korea at the moment as violence erupts in the country following the President’s declaration of martial law.

A man holds the South Korea flag as protesters gather outside the National Assembly in Seoul

Soldiers prepare to advance to the main building of the National Assembly

Troops battle to enter Parliament

Members of the military make their way through the crowd in front of the National Assembly

Violence has erupted outside South Korea’s National Assembly building after President Yoon Suk Yeol sensationally declared emergency martial law today, prompting hordes of angry citizens to clash with riot cops and security forces.

Yoon delivered a shocking late-night address in which he vowed ‘to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces plundering the happiness of our people and to protect the constitutional order.’

He went on to accuse his country’s opposition of controlling the parliament and hamstringing the government through anti-state activities before asking his citizens to ‘believe in him’ and ‘tolerate some inconveniences’.

South Korea’s military proclaimed that under martial law, parliament and other political gatherings that could cause ‘social confusion’ would be suspended and anyone found to violate the regulations could be arrested without a warrant.

Yoon said in his address: ‘With no regard for the livelihoods of the people, the opposition party has paralysed governance solely for the sake of impeachments, special investigations, and shielding their leader from justice… Through this martial law, I will rebuild and protect the free Republic of Korea, which is falling into the depths of national ruin.’

• Watch the video below and read the full story here

Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declares martial law in the country to leave it in crisis.

President Yoon has vowed to eliminate ‘anti-state” forces as he struggles against an opposition that controls the country’s parliament and which he accuses of sympathising with communist North Korea.

The surprising move harks back to an era of authoritarian leaders that the country has not seen since the 1980s, and was immediately denounced by the opposition and by the leader of Mr Yoon’s own conservative party.

Following Mr Yoon’s announcement, South Korea’s military proclaimed that parliament and other political gatherings that could cause “social confusion” would be suspended, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

The military also said that the country’s striking doctors should return to work within 48 hours, Yonhap said.

Thousands of doctors have been striking for months over government plans to expand the number of students at medical schools.

The military said anyone who violates the decree could be arrested without a warrant.