Hundreds of National Call Consultations on the Day of the 12·3 Martial Law

340 Calls from Late Night to Morning
Public Anxiety over Absurd Martial Law Declaration
Only Innocent Call Center Agents Repeatedly Apologize

President Yoon Seok-yeol, accused of being the ringleader of a rebellion, was arrested, and it has been confirmed that hundreds of consultation calls flooded the Government Civil Complaint Guidance Call Center (National Call 110) during the December 3 emergency martial law incident. This was because the entire nation was engulfed in fear due to the sudden declaration of martial law and the armed martial law troops' invasion of the National Assembly.

According to data submitted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission to Representative Yoon Geon-young, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the number of martial law-related consultations at National Call 110 was counted as 340 from 10 p.m. on December 3 last year to 9 a.m. on December 4. The inquiries included guidelines for citizens' actions upon the declaration of emergency martial law, confirmation of overseas travel and entry/exit possibilities, questions about curfew restrictions, confirmation of school closures and work attendance, inquiries about whether military discharge would be postponed, requests to connect to the Presidential Office regarding the martial law declaration, and complaints about the non-issuance of disaster safety text messages.

Reviewing the recordings from that day, citizens were trembling with anxiety over the emergency martial law. Complainant A repeatedly asked, "If emergency martial law is declared, should we evacuate? What should we do?" B lamented, "I have to depart on a flight at 9 p.m. the day after tomorrow; is it still possible as planned?" C expressed frustration, "What is the President doing at this late hour? How can someone like me with heart disease survive this?"

Some citizens, terrified as if a war had broken out, urgently asked questions. D angrily exclaimed, "Has a war started? Are soldiers just coming out and shooting? What should we do? Are we just supposed to die like this?" E vented, "The police tell me to call the Ministry of National Defense, but the Ministry says they don't know. Are people living on the front lines supposed to die? Is it just over once martial law is declared?"

The ones who apologized for the absurd declaration of martial law were the innocent call center agents. They responded, "You may need to watch the news to know what specific measures are being taken," and "We have not been given any information, so we cannot provide guidance," repeatedly expressing their apologies.

Representative Yoon stated, "The arrest warrant for the suspect Yoon Seok-yeol has been executed. It is truly tragic that the situation has come to this," and emphasized, "It is not over until it is over. We must not lose our focus until the very end and ensure accountability."