The entertainment industry is also in shock after President Yoon Seok-yeol declared and lifted martial law in the middle of the night. Those who had events and schedules coming up suddenly panicked due to the sudden declaration of martial law.

President Yoon Seok-yeol declared martial law at 10:23 PM on the 3rd. After that, the National Assembly passed the resolution to lift martial law with the unanimous approval of all 190 members present at around 1 AM on the 4th. President Yoon Seok-yeol lifted the martial law declaration at around 4:30 AM on the same day, about 6 hours after the declaration of martial law.

The entertainment industry was also shocked during those tense 6 hours. Those who had immediate schedules had to use midnight contact networks to keep an eye on the situation in order to proceed with their events and other activities. In fact, the interview with actress Seo Hyun-jin scheduled for the 4th was canceled due to the declaration and lifting of martial law. As the political situation occurred right before the interview, related questions may have been asked to the actor. It seems that the interview schedule was canceled because it could be a sensitive question. The interview schedule (5th) with Gong Yoo, who co-starred with Seo Hyun-jin in the Netflix original series ‘Trunk’, is also under discussion for cancellation.

Those who are preparing for this week‘s events were also stamping their feet. Officials related to this week’s events, such as the Netflix entertainment show ‘Strongest Rugby’, ENA·LG U+ STUDIO X+U ‘Kian Isseo’, and the movie ‘I Miss You’, were busy discussing whether to proceed with the events through group chats all night. Some even prepared notices with the cancellation notice in mind in case the events had to be canceled abruptly.

The drama filming team was equally surprised. Several works that were currently filming were on edge due to the possibility of filming being halted simultaneously. In fact, a drama production team sent out an emergency notice to announce that they would temporarily suspend filming, but then announced that production would proceed as normal after martial law was lifted.

The music industry discussed postponing album releases and canceling overseas schedules, while the film industry discussed halting production and postponing releases. The broadcasting industry was even discussing rescheduling existing broadcasts. The atmosphere of having to be careful because of the current situation swept through the entertainment industry overnight.

Hong Se-young, Donga.com reporter, projecthong@donga.com