Telegram Breaks Out in South Korea After Martial Law

Mobile analytics firm IGAWorks recorded the latest figures showing that Telegram achieved a remarkable growth in downloads after this event. Specifically, on December 3 alone, the application had 40,576 new installations, 4 times higher than the daily average and accounting for nearly half of the total downloads of messaging applications on that day.

The growth trend continued on December 4, when Telegram recorded more than 33,000 downloads. This achievement pushed Telegram past popular messaging apps in South Korea such as LINE and KakaoTalk to become the most downloaded app in this segment.

One of the main reasons why Telegram has attracted a large number of Korean users is thanks to its superior end-to-end encryption system, which provides secure conversations amid concerns about censorship and the risk of service disruption. The fact that Telegram's servers are located overseas is also an attractive factor for users. While domestic applications such as Naver and Kakao experienced overload and connection disruptions after martial law was issued, Telegram still operated smoothly, meeting the urgent communication needs of the people.

Currently, Telegram has up to 700 million registered users worldwide.

Thanh Mai (t/h)