On the night of the 3rd, President Yoon Suk Yeol declared a state of emergency. Although there has been no significant fluctuation in hotel booking rates within South Korea, inquiries from some guests have been steadily increasing.
In some countries, travel advisories have been issued.
The UK Foreign Office, for instance, issued a travel alert for South Korea on the 4th, advising travelers to "follow the instructions of local authorities and avoid political demonstrations." The British Embassy in South Korea also posted on social media, stating that it is "closely monitoring the situation" and urging people to "pay attention to updates from the Foreign Office."
The U.S. State Department, even after the emergency declaration was lifted, deemed the situation to remain unstable. It warned, "Be mindful of potential disruptions," and emphasized that "even peaceful demonstrations could turn violent. Avoid areas of protest."
Countries such as Singapore and Ukraine also used their embassies' social media platforms to advise citizens to respond appropriately to the local situation. Similarly, the Japanese Embassy in South Korea sent emails urging its nationals residing in the country to exercise caution.
The state of emergency was declared at approximately 10:30 PM on the 3rd and lifted roughly six hours later, at around 4:30 AM the following day.
Despite this, some travelers continue to contact travel agencies to inquire about the feasibility of proceeding with their trips.
A representative of the travel industry remarked, "No customers have canceled, but there were inquiries about whether departures would be possible. Global OTAs (online travel agencies) might be affected, but fortunately, domestic travel agencies have not seen significant impacts."
A hotel representative also commented, "Although an internal meeting was held following the emergency declaration, the number of cancellations fortunately did not deviate significantly from the average. However, we must keep an eye on how the situation evolves."
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