Tesla CEO Elon Musk reacts with surprise to news of South Korea's martial law declaration through X. Captured from Musk's X account

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, set to serve as head of government efficiency in Donald Trump's second administration, expressed repeated surprise over the news of South Korea's martial law declaration.

On X (formerly Twitter), Musk responded to a post stating, "President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea has declared martial law!!"

About three hours later, he commented "Wow" on another post about South Korea's National Assembly unanimously passing a resolution to lift martial law, accompanied by a photo of the Assembly.

In response to a user asking, "What is happening in South Korea right now?" Musk replied, "Yeah, this is shocking." His comments quickly garnered hundreds of retweets and sparked a flurry of responses from X users curious about the unfolding situation in South Korea.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.