Following South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law on December 3, there has been a dramatic surge in new Telegram installations.
According to IGAWorks’ Mobile Index, Telegram saw 4,576 new installations on Tuesday, the day martial law was declared. This accounted for nearly half (47.09%) of the total new installations in the messaging app category that day, quadrupling from the previous 9,016 installations.
In the previous month, Naver Line had dominated new installations in the messaging app category, with Telegram ranking fourth. Line maintained its top position in both October and September, followed by KakaoTalk in second and Telegram in third.
However, immediately after the martial law declaration, Naver and Kakao’s web portals experienced connection issues due to increased traffic surges. This prompted many users to install Telegram as a precautionary measure, with numerous posts on social media about installing the app in case of an emergency. Rumors about potential communication censorship and the need to prepare for the worst-case scenarios also fueled a growing sentiment of “digital exile.”
Immediately following the declaration, Telegram’s popularity in app store rankings skyrocketed from around 50th place to third.
Even the following day, as the situation persisted into the morning after the declaration, Telegram saw 33,033 new installations. On December 5th and 6th, it continued to lead the messaging app category with over 10,000 new installations.
This trend suggests that while Telegram usage had previously stagnated in South Korea, the martial law declaration has now demonstrated the reality of “digital exile.”
Meanwhile, Telegram operates overseas servers and has long been praised for its high security. This reputation has made it a favored messaging platform among key political and governmental figures.
