SEOUL: The monthly mobile data traffic running on fifth-generation (5G) networks is expected to surpass 1 million terabytes for the first time this month, industry officials said on Sunday, as news viewership soared following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s surprise martial law declaration.

Should it exceed the 1 million TB mark, it would be the first time since South Korea rolled out the world’s first commercial 5G network in April 2019 with the nation’s three carriers — SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp.

The usage of the high-speed network has remained above 900, 000 TB since April, reaching 996, 782 TB in October, according to data from the Ministry of Science and ICT, reports Yonhap news agency.

The amount of data used per user through 5G networks is also expected to exceed 30 gigabytes for the first time this month, the data showed. The per-person usage has hovered around 24 to 29 GB over the past five years.

“The 5G data traffic per person was deadlocked at around 29 GB in recent years, but it will likely surpass the 30 GB mark as the number of people watching news on YouTube soared amid the impeachment process against President Yoon, ” an industry official said.

The usage of the high-speed network is estimated to have shot up since Dec. 3, when President Yoon declared martial law, accusing the nation’s opposition of paralyzing the government with “anti-state activities, ” only to be lifted hours later after the National Assembly voted to reverse it.

Online services of leading portal operator Naver experienced disruptions for hours following the martial law imposition due to a sudden spike in traffic.

The impeachment motion against Yoon passed in a 204-85 vote by the National Assembly on Dec. 14 and is awaiting a decision by the Constitutional Court.