'Martial law' most-searched word on Google in South Korea

Seoul, Dec 4 (IANS) The Korean term for "martial law" was the most-searched word on Google in South Korea on Wednesday, following President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived declaration of martial law.

The word topped Google's trends chart with the search volume over the past 24 hours surpassing the 2 million mark, up more than a thousand percent from a day ago.

"Currency exchange rate" and "Kim Yong-hyun," the name of the South Korean defense minister who reportedly proposed declaring the martial law to the president, ranked second and third on the trends chart, respectively, reports Yonhap news agency.

Yoon declared martial law late on Tuesday night, accusing the opposition of paralyzing the government with "anti-state activities," but lifted it hours later after the National Assembly voted to call for its end.

With the nation in shock over the incident, the news page of South Korea's largest internet portal, Naver, saw all-time high traffic overnight, according to its operator.

The surge briefly disrupted some of its functions, but service was quickly normalised.

Meanwhile, Yeol on Wednesday held a meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and leaders of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) to discuss follow-up measures after opposition parties submitted an impeachment motion in response to the short-lived martial law declaration.

Prime Minister Han, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon and floor leader Choo Kyung-ho convened at the presidential office just hours after the opposition submitted the motion, following the National Assembly's rejection of the martial law declaration earlier in the day.

"They seriously discussed the current situation, and there was no difference in opinions," a senior presidential official said, adding Yoon's potential departure from the party was not a topic of discussion during the meeting.

The main opposition Democratic Party and five other minor parties plan to report the motion to a parliamentary plenary session on Thursday and put it up for a vote as early as Friday.