The National Assembly was not the only building in South Korea that had a busy night last night. Although the last few hours have been particularly tumultuous at headquarters in Seoul due to the deployment of soldiers, protesters and lawmakers opposing martial law imposed by the country’s president, things haven’t been easy at the grocery stores either. Of course, for very different reasons. The South Korean leader’s decision to take emergency measures and bring the military into the streets activated an old mechanism that we are already familiar with during the pandemic in South Korea: panic buying.

Martial law was only in effect for six hours, but it is likely that there are still businesses in the country that remain suspended.

A temporary martial law. In an Asia marked by the rigid government of Xi Jinping in China, the personal rule of Kim Jong-un in North Korea, tensions between Beijing and Tokyo or the Taiwan crisis, South Korea stands out for many reasons. It is one of the United States’ greatest allies on the continent, as well as one of its most robust democracies. Therefore, president Yoon Suk-yeol’s decision to declare martial law without prior notice last night caused consternation inside and outside the country.

Yoon accompanied the decision with a harsh speech, implicitly criticizing the opposition and making the following argument: determination to neutralize the “threat” of “pro-North Korean anti-state” forces. The truth was that he had not calculated his move well. The president eventually faced intense backlash on the streets, a split in his own party, and rejection from legislators who soon deployed legal means to overthrow the martial law regime. The result: it only took a few hours.

Problems? to the store. Yoon surprisingly declared martial law at 22:25 local time, following accusations from the opposition. At 4:27 a.m., after six hours of very intense political maneuvering, military deployment, protests in the streets, and growing international expectation, Yoon once again issued a new warning: The withdrawal of the emergency measure was something the Parliament had recently requested. National in an emergency vote. It didn’t take long. Just a few hours. But they helped many South Koreans across the country decide to prepare for the worst. Like? We are making major acquisitions.

24 hours a day online or in stores. The incident was announced by the newspaper Korea Times: Yoon’s announcement not only galvanized South Korean opposition, but also drove many families to online platforms or convenience stores open at night to stock their refrigerators. While it is unknown how long the emergency measure will last or what it may lead to, after listening to Yoon Suk Yeol’s speech, South Koreans took action to buy food, water and other essential products.

Purpose: supply. And ensure a good supply in case the military deployment prevents them from making normal purchases in the coming days. Korea Times He talks about “mass” visits to online platforms, “bottlenecks” and how business logistics become complicated in a matter of hours. So-called “panic buying” also began shortly after 10:25 p.m. and spread across the country.

Is there data? Yes, and these are self-explanatory. The South Korean newspaper managed to gain access to the balance sheet of one retail business, but this (a private case) gives a clear idea of ​​Yoon’s influence on the industry: canned food sales jumped 75.9% compared to the previous day; microwaveable rice, 38.2%; bottled water shipments increased 37.4%; increased demand for instant noodles by 28.1%; that of batteries 25.7%; and sales of other food products increased by around 24% without specifying.

Instant noodles and water. These are not the only data that help us understand what happened last night. Another operator with franchise stores encountered a similar situation. Drinking water sales increased by 23.1% compared to last week, instant noodle sales increased by 16.4%, canned food sales increased by 15.5% and microwaveable rice sales increased by 14.8%. The demand for first aid supplies has also increased by 12% compared to a few days ago.

The percentages are interesting because the chain has 4,000 stores distributed mainly in residential areas. According to the industry’s statement, “shopping fever” would be especially intense in these regions and among people between the ages of 50 and 60. “Canned foods sell quickly because they can be stored for a long time,” they explain.

reflection on the internet. The earthquake caused by Yoon’s statement was felt not only in stores open at night. There were those who chose to pull out their mobile phone or sit in front of their computer, search for sales platforms and devote themselves to filling their online cart. Searches for “drinking water” on Naver increased so much that within an hour, these keywords rose from the top searches: from 10th to sixth place.

Other words specifically searched on Homeplus around 01:00 at night were “milk”, “rice” and “instant noodles”. The newspaper even mentions websites that often focus on selling clothes, and last night they recorded a surprising increase in food-related searches. Of course, there were also those who noted on social networks that they started shopping to stock their refrigerators and pantries.

Is it a new phenomenon? No. Far from it. Martial law has not been imposed in South Korea for decades, and the consequences of Yoon’s decision yesterday are still unpredictable – for now, the Defense Minister and some of the conservative president’s main advisers have offered to resign. ; But one thing is for sure: the “panic buying” it triggers is not such a strange phenomenon.

These were common in the early stages of the epidemic in 2020. And just a few months ago, we saw them again in Japan, which started stockpiling rice, but then it was for something else: the country was threatened. would suffer big earthquake. Then and now, whether it’s a literal earthquake or in the political realm, the goal is always the same, as one of those filling his basket in Korea noted yesterday: “Prepare for a possible famine.”

Pictures | Luke Hoagland (Flickr) and Maxim Makarov (Unsplash)

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