Telegram (Getty Images)
On the day of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law declaration, the number of South Koreans installing Telegram surged dramatically, according to data released Tuesday.
Telegram reached 47.09 percent of all messenger app downloads here on Dec. 3 — totaling 40,576 — nearly four times higher than the 9,016 recorded a day before, data from mobile big data platform IGAWorks showed. Yoon declared emergency martial law on the night of Dec. 3, only to reverse it the next morning under parliamentary pressure.
Telegram’s appeal lies partly in its reputation for strong security features. With servers based outside South Korea, the platform has been favored by political and government insiders seeking secure communication.
Concerns that martial law could have led to increased censorship or disrupted the more widely used Naver and Kakao servers due to heavy traffic appeared to have driven many users to Telegram as an alternative.
On social media platform X, user @on_XXV said, "On the morning of Dec. 4 (Wednesday), while chatting with acquaintances on KakaoTalk on my way to work, I found myself wondering, 'Is it okay to talk about martial law on KakaoTalk?'"
Another user @dino0401 also showed concern by posting, "During the martial law period, I noticed an increase in the number of acquaintances joining Telegram. It seems they were worried about services like KakaoTalk being blocked."
Installations remained high on Wednesday at 33,033 and stayed above 10,000 on Thursday and Friday.
Prior to the martial law crisis, Telegram had struggled to gain traction in South Korea.
In November, the app ranked fourth in new installations, trailing Naver’s Line, which consistently held the top spot, and KakaoTalk. This trend was similar in September and October.
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