Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Memes, satire about hamburger franchise spread amid martial law plot allegations
A poster for "Gyeom (martial law) burger," created by online users to mock the alleged gathering of intelligence officials at a hamburger franchise to plot martial law / Screenshot from X
By Lee Hae-rin
The local hamburger franchise Lotteria was the butt of a surge of memes and other online satire on Thursday, after police investigations revealed that former intelligence commanders met at one of its restaurants in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, to discuss martial law plans, two days before President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration on Dec. 3.
A poster for "Naeran burger," coined after the Korean word meaning "treason," created by online users. Screenshot from X
“Martial law plotting at Lotteria — that’s the most ridiculous combination of words that I’ve seen in my life,” an online user wrote on the social platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
Another wrote, “Here is a Korean history quiz for students later on: Where did intelligence commanders hold a meeting to plot for martial law? A. Presidential office, B. Underground bunker, C. Lotteria,” and “Shake those flavored French fries like you want to shake up the nation."
Sarcastic comments from many users were shared online, using wordplay on keywords related to the martial law fiasco to create a fictional hamburger menu.
"The Gyeom ('martial law' in Korean) burger, the taste of screwing up the country as a whole," one wrote, while another suggested that Lotteria should launch a series of “Gyeom (martial law) burgers,” “Haejae (lifting) burgers” and “Tanhaek (impeachment) burgers” following the momentum. Some even created and uploaded hypothetical posters for such imaginary burgers.
Using artificial intelligence, an internet user even created an image showing a group of uniformed soldiers sitting around a table, eating hamburgers at a Lotteria restaurant.
An X user shares an AI-generated image of high-ranking officials holding a meeting on martial law / Screenshot from X
Meanwhile, the Lotteria restaurant where the intelligence officials reportedly held the meeting drew a flock of visitors.
The restaurant's Kakao Map page received more than 110 new visitor reviews since Tuesday, when news reports revealed details of the meeting.
One internet user commented, "The Gyeom burger set is delicious," while others wrote, "This is a good restaurant that makes people want to mock martial law," and "A taste that shakes up the entire country." Others even added: "A historic place" and "The taste that even former and current intelligence commanders and colonels could not resist."
According to a police investigation, Moon Sang-ho, then-intelligence commander, and Noh Sang-won, former intelligence commander who dishonorably retired in 2018, allegedly met at the Lotteria restaurant on Dec. 1, two days before Yoon’s declaration, to discuss martial law plans.
Moon and Noh face allegations of meeting with two colonels from the Defense Intelligence Command, issuing orders to prepare for martial law. Noh reportedly gave specific instructions to the two colonels, saying, "Secure the National Election Commission server on the day of martial law."
A woman passes by a Lotteria in downtown Seoul, Aug. 7. Newsis