South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law Tuesday, accusing the nation's opposition of paralysing the government with "anti-state activities plotting rebellion."

"The martial law is aimed at eradicating pro-North Korean forces and protecting the constitutional order of freedom," Yonhap news agency quoted Yoon as saying in the televised address.

This decision came after the opposition Democratic Party (DP) railroaded a downsized budget bill in the parliamentary budget committee, and submitted...