Among all the news I’ve seen while living in Germany, this was the most shocking.
Even the news about Russia starting the war wasn’t as surprising… (Maybe because there were warning signs for that?)
This, however, came out of nowhere like a bolt from the blue and truly shocked me.
I was leisurely watching the news after having dinner at home, just curious about what had happened that day.
Suddenly, there was a mention of Korea, and I was like, “What’s this about?” Then I heard something about Kriegsrecht being declared, and I went, “Huh? What’s that?”
The news looked very serious, and I noticed the word “Martial Law” in the top left corner. Just to be sure, I looked it up, and it turns out that martial law had indeed been declared in Korea in 2024—seriously?!
I couldn’t help but think, “Is this some kind of comedy?” Since I’ve been using AI for image generation these days, I wondered if this was some sort of deepfake or hoax.
But as I kept searching, there were more and more reports.
So I was like, “Wait… is this real?” And after digging around, I realized, “Wow, it’s true.”
By the way, German news headlines are incredibly apt and dramatic. Here’s a rough translation of them in order:
- Crisis in Seoul: President Declares Martial Law, Protests, Fears of a New Dictatorship
- Korea's Martial Law and Parliamentary Conflict | Korean Expert on ZDFheute Live
- President Yoon Leads a Coup Against His Own Parliament (Putsch: rebellion, coup)
- Martial Law in Korea: Presidential Coup? A High-Tech Nation Facing a Military Dictatorship Crisis
- Fear in East Asia: President Yoon Unexpectedly Declares Martial Law
LOL, the content itself is absurd. They even read the martial law declaration in German, referring to the majority party, the Democratic Party, as a “third party” of North Korea. LOL. What an embarrassment for the country.
Out of nowhere, my German friends started messaging me like, “Is Korea in chaos? Do you have to go back?”
So after some aimless searching, I found out the situation was already over. I just replied, “Oh, it’s already resolved,” and left it at that.
Honestly, did they really think something like this would work in the 21st century, in 2024 of all years?
Back in 1979, martial law might have worked since there was no internet, and information dissemination was slow, making it hard to respond effectively. But do they not understand the speed at which information spreads today? Did they genuinely believe this would work?
Did they not see what happened when former President Park was impeached? Do they think they won’t be impeached? Or was it one last desperate gamble because things were already falling apart with the passing of special investigation laws and exposure of broker scandals? Maybe they just wanted to create a reason to bow out because they didn’t have an excuse to quit?
Now I’m looking up international reactions to Yoon’s martial law declaration, and it’s just embarrassing for the country.
Not just the reactions in Germany where I live, but Europe in general is reporting this as if the president staged a coup rather than declaring martial law. LOL. Some even call him an authoritarian president, something you wouldn’t see since the 1980s.
Oh, and the exchange rate must have taken a hit again… I’m scared to check.
At least I learned a new German word from this ordeal. I had no reason to use the term “martial law” before, but now I’ll never forget it. LOL.