The Korean word for “martial law” was the most searched term on Google in South Korea on Wednesday, following President Yun Suk Yeol’s short-lived declaration of martial law.
The term topped Google’s trend charts with search volume in the last 24 hours crossing the 2 million mark, up a thousand percent from the day before.
“Currency exchange rate” and “Kim Yong-hyun”, the name of the South Korean defense minister who reportedly proposed to the president to declare martial law, were second and third respectively on the trend chart, Yonhap news agency reported. Are in place.
Yun declared martial law late Tuesday, accusing the opposition of paralyzing the government with “anti-state activities,” but lifted it hours after the National Assembly voted to end it.
The incident shocked the country, with the news page of Naver, South Korea’s largest internet portal, seeing its highest-ever traffic overnight, according to its operator.
The surge briefly disrupted some of its operations, but service quickly returned to normal.
Meanwhile, Yeol met with Prime Minister Han Duk-soo and leaders of the ruling People’s Power Party (PPP) on Wednesday to discuss follow-up measures after opposition parties submitted an impeachment motion in response to the short-term martial law declaration .
Prime Minister Han, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon and floor leader Chu Kyung-ho met at the Presidential Office, just hours after the opposition submitted the motion, after the National Assembly rejected the martial law declaration earlier in the day.
“They seriously discussed the current situation and there was no difference of opinion,” a senior presidential official said. He said Yun’s possible departure from the party was not a topic of discussion during the meeting.
The main opposition Democratic Party and five other smaller parties plan to report the proposal to a parliamentary plenary session on Thursday and put it up for a vote as early as Friday.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
