Entertainment industry reeling from shockwave left by martial law decree

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s sudden declaration of emergency martial law late Tuesday night has sent shockwaves in the entertainment industry with abrupt cancellations and postponements of scheduled promotional events and shows.

Two films released Wednesday — “Firefighters” and “One Win”— canceled their promotional events for their premieres originally scheduled on the same day due to “unavoidable circumstances.”

For comedy sports film “One Win,” actors Song Kang-ho and Park Jeong-min were scheduled to make guest appearances on an SBS radio show Wednesday morning but were abruptly called off, according to its host actor Park Ha-seon.

“I believe many would be exhausted after everything last night,” the show’s host Park said during the show while informing viewers of the cancellation.

“I can see comments, saying like ‘I’m glad we could meet.’ There are times when reality feels more like a film than the films themselves, but I truly hope this will end as a film.”

Film “Firefighters” postponed its special screening event with the National Fire Agency set to be held in Sejong the same day.

Despite the Wednesday postponement, the film will still hold its weekend promotional events.

MBC’s Wednesday talk show “Radio Star” (2007-) canceled its scheduled airing due to a special news report program taking its slot.

The canceled episode features baseball player Choo Shin-soo, Koo Hye-sun, Kwak Si-yang, and chef Yoon Nam-no, also known as “Cooking Maniac” in Netflix’s cooking survival show “Culinary Class Wars.” The episode will be aired next Wednesday.

“Tonight’s airing of MBC’s ‘Radio Star’ at 10:30 p.m. has been canceled due to a special news report session. We kindly ask for our viewers’ understanding,” MBC said.

Actor Seo Hyun-jin postponed her interview with local reporters following the situation. The actor recently appeared in Netflix’s mystery series “The Trunk” and was set to discuss the series and her role with reporters. It will take place on Friday instead, the organizers said.

The sudden situation also affected concert schedules in Korea, leading to uncertainty and confusion about whether they would proceed as planned.

Singer Lee Seung-hwan initially canceled his ongoing concert shows, dubbed “Like A Black And White Movie,” earlier on Wednesday after President Yoon’s announcement. The concerts kicked off on Tuesday and were originally scheduled to be held on Wednesday and Thursday.

However, he later announced that he would resume the concerts as martial law was lifted.

“I promise today, a day when we have a lot to share, that I will meet you all with deeper music and stories,” said Lee on his social media account on Wednesday.

While cancellations and postponements disrupted the entertainment schedule, many events resumed as planned after martial law was lifted. This included concerts by Grammy-winning pop star Dua Lipa, American singer Charlie Puth and Japanese artist Yoasobi in Korea.

On Tuesday night, President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law to eradicate “antistate forces,” the first time martial law has been enacted in 45 years. After the declaration, 190 lawmakers gathered at the National Assembly to vote on a motion to lift it. The motion was passed unanimously by lawmakers. Six hours after President Yoon’s declaration, the Cabinet approved the motion, ending martial law.

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]