The foreign ministry has issued a special travel advisory for El Salvador amid growing security concerns in the Central American country.

The ministry said the travel alert went into effect as of 12 a.m. on Thursday as El Salvador earlier this week extended the state of emergency to crack down on deadly gang violence.

The anti-gang state of emergency was initially declared on March 27 and was recently extended for another month.

The measure restricts the right to gather and allows arrests without warrants. Authorities are also allowed to intercept phone calls and emails without a court order.

The South Korean foreign ministry asked its nationals to cancel or postpone trips to the country, while advising those already there to exercise extra caution for their safety.