NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The South Korean won dropped

to a more than two-year low against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday,

while exchange traded funds linked to South Korean stocks fell

after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in an

unannounced late-night address live on YTN television.

The South Korean unit fell to as low as 1,430.82 won

per dollar, the lowest since October 2022. It was last down 1.9%

at 1,430.60.

"It's uncertainty driven.. one of those 'shoot first,

ask questions later' (moves)," said Christopher Wong, FX and

rates strategist at OCBC in Singapore. "Given the lack of

information, the uncertainty may still keep Korean won under

pressure in the interim."

Yoon said he had no choice but to resort to such a measure

in order to safeguard free and constitutional order, saying

opposition parties have taken the parliamentary process hostage

to throw the country into a crisis.

Stocks listed overseas swooned. The MSCI South Korea ETF

fell 4.5%, while the Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF

slid 3.2%.

With losses of more than 9% so far this year, the won is one

of Asia's worst performers and has been persistently under

pressure as the Bank of Korea cut rates aggressively to support

the economy and as investors fled a market they see as exposed

heavily to exports and to U.S. trade tariffs on China.

"The Korean won is already under pressure from the

looming threat of tariffs and their detrimental impact on

export-driven economies," said Rong Ren Goh, a portfolio manager

in the fixed income team at Eastspring Investments in Singapore.

"This latest development is likely to exacerbate the

currency's weakness, encouraging speculators to use the won as a

high-beta proxy for expressing tariff-related risks."