Panicked shoppers hoard bottled water, toilet paper amid martial law chaos

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Panicked shoppers hoard bottled water, toilet paper amid martial law chaos

Published: 04 Dec. 2024, 17:08 Updated: 04 Dec. 2024, 19:16

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Customers purchase items at a convenience store in Seoul. Convenience stores saw a spike in sales for daily necessities like bottled water on Tuesday night after President Yoon Suk Yeol abruptly declared martial law at around 10:30 p.m. [NEWS1]

No retail supply chains were majorly disrupted by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s abrupt declaration of martial law late Tuesday night, with early morning deliveries carried out and supermarkets operating as usual on Wednesday.

But Koreans, panicked and confused from the abrupt announcement, bought more daily essentials and foods like bottled water, instant noodles and canned goods, as well as necessities like batteries and medical supplies, according to data from the e-commerce and convenience store industry.

Under emergency martial law, the president can implement a curfew to restrict movement that could affect overnight logistics. The most recent martial law declaration, made 45 years ago, was also enacted during a time when a curfew from midnight to 4 a.m. restricted residents from freely moving around. The decades-long curfew was lifted on Jan. 5, 1982.

One convenience store chain’s 4,000 branches near residential areas saw sudden spikes in sales from 11 p.m. to midnight on Tuesday compared to the same period a week before, sources told the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily.

Sales of canned goods went up 337.3 percent; ramyeon, or instant noodles, by 253.8 percent; bottled water by 141 percent; instant cooked rice by 128.6 percent; batteries by 40.6 percent; and medical supplies by 39.5 percent.

Data from two other convenience store chains also showed that customers bought more processed foods that could serve as emergency rations, such as canned goods, ramyeon and cereal.

Cases of bottled water are stocked at a supermarket in Eunpyeong District, northern Seoul, on Wednesday. [KIM JU-YEON]

The manager of a 24-hour convenience store in Eunpyeong District, northern Seoul, told the Korea JoongAng Daily he had “operated the store as usual,” even after hearing President Yoon’s declaration at 10:25 p.m., shortly after starting his shift.

While he had not seen a significant spike in sales of daily necessities or emergency rations, he said sales of alcoholic drinks had risen by 20 to 30 percent compared to recent days.

“Customers came in saying they ‘couldn’t sleep because they were too frustrated’ and that they needed something to drink,” the manager, a man in his 50s, said.

Shoppers crowded online marketplaces and 24/7 convenience stores. Superstore chains like Emart and neighborhood grocery stores, which typically operate until 10 p.m. or 11 p.m., did not see any disruptions or a noticeable change in sales made at the physical shops.

Daily essentials like rice, ramyeon and bottled water ranked second, third and sixth on supermarket Homeplus’s online mall as of 1 a.m on Wednesday, while 11Street, which primarily sells clothes and electronics, also saw ramyeon trending in its searches around 1 a.m.

Coupang delivery trucks are lined up at a parking lot in Seoul in April. [YONHAP]

Coupang and Shinsegae’s online mall, SSG.com, has been delivering goods without disruption since early morning, company officials told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

Food delivery services also saw no disruption. Major food delivery apps Coupang Eats, Baedal Minjok and Yogiyo are running as usual, according to the operators’ respective representatives.

Online users took to community sites to share their accounts of the panic-induced shopping sprees.

One user shared on X, formerly Twitter, that they'd “bought 48 2-liter bottles of water in a hurry because I was worried that I might not be able to get out of the house.”

“As soon as I saw the news, I thought I should definitely stock up on baby formula and diapers,” a user said on a mom cafe, or online community for mothers, adding that they'd purchased “140,000 won [$100] worth of bottled water, detergent and tissues on Coupang.”

BY KIM JU-YEON, OH SAM-GWON [[email protected]]