South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law left many citizens awake through the night as they watched the historic event unfold. By midnight on Tuesday, more than 5 million people were reported to have tuned in to television coverage.
Immediately following Yoon’s announcement of martial law at 10:50 p.m., all three major South Korean broadcasters—KBS, SBS, and MBC—and four major cable channels switched to special news coverage. Nielsen Korea reported that MBC led in viewership, with a rating of 6.8%, followed by SBS (3.3%) and KBS1 (3.2%). This suggests that many viewers turned to MBC, which has recently been critical of the Yoon administration.
The rankings among the comprehensive cable channels were as follows: JTBC (4.2%), TV Chosun (3.9%), MBN (2.3%), and Channel A (1.1%).
According to Nielsen Korea, MBC’s special coverage attracted approximately 1.28 million viewers, while SBS and KBS1 had around 540,000 and 520,000 viewers, respectively. For the cable channels, JTBC garnered around 1.02 million viewers, TV Chosun reached 740,000, MBN attracted 490,000, and Channel A brought in around 230,000 viewers.
When combining the viewership numbers from the major and cable channels, the total number of viewers approached 5 million. Adding those who followed the special coverage on their smartphones further increased the audience, showing just how many citizens were awake during this unprecedented state of emergency, the first to be declared in South Korea in 45 years.
The special news coverage continued until 2 a.m. on Wednesday, well past midnight. Given that viewership during this time typically hovers near 0%, the high ratings highlight the gravity with which the public viewed the unfolding situation.