The opposition strategy has gained popularity over the past few years as well as increasing media coverage.
A search on Great Kinds, which collects and analyses reports from over 100 local media sources, shows wreath demonstrations received four times more media coverage in 2024 compared to 2023, reflecting the product’s growing reputation.
Although researchers can’t say exactly where these demonstrations came from, news reports about them started to appear in the first 2010s.
While a number of flower shops claim to haven’t received rally wreath orders and a few online blogs promote wreath sales while promoting social neutrality, some shops have become the movement’s primary points.
Yoon Miyoung, of Seoul-based Dongsung Flower, said she has delivered over 1, 000 bouquets since December, specifically for pro-Yoon followers. Over one-third of her clients are in their 20s and 30s, with requests coming from outside South Korea, including Japan, the United States, and the Netherlands, according to her, adding that Seoul is running out of plants.
” Even though the kind remains the same, the types of plants or the emails differ”, said Choi Hang-sub, a sociology professor at Kookmin University.
While wreaths avoid actual crime, the messages on death wreaths have evolved into a form of online hate speech, related to destructive online comments but presently decorated with flowers.
According to Professor Kim Hern Sik of Jungwon University, wreath protests are still” an isolated type of show limited to some political groups,” making it challenging to gain wider public support.