The Itaewon tragedy looks back after 1 year: People are still haunted, Korea stops celebrating Halloween

One year after the tragedy of a stampede in a small alley in Itaewon that left more than 150 people dead, it is still an obsession for many people in Korea. This year's Halloween activities seem to have completely disappeared in this country.

At the end of October 2022, while the jubilant Halloween festival took place in the bustling Itaewon neighborhood (Seoul, South Korea), tragedy occurred. More than 150 people died and more than 190 people were injured during a stampede in a small alley. This is considered one of the major tragedies in Korea, with a large number of casualties.

It's been almost a year since the Halloween tragedy occurred in Itaewon on October 29, 2022. The pain has still not subsided for the Korean people, so events and festivals related to the Halloween theme have almost disappeared. completely this year.

According to Korea Times, activities to celebrate Halloween almost no longer appear in Korea. Even amusement parks that traditionally celebrate Halloween have changed their appearance, no longer having haunted houses or horror scenes like every year.

Everland, a famous amusement park in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, has chosen Happy Thanksgiving as the theme for this year's Halloween season. Accordingly, the park's Four Seasons garden is decorated with flowers and autumn fruits. There will only be light activities instead of a Halloween-themed parade.

Lotte World, the largest entertainment complex in Jamsil, Seoul (South Korea), kicked off the Halloween festival season last September with the theme Dark Moon in Lotte World. Lotte World partnered with a comic website and K-pop boy band Enhypen to decorate the park with images taken from comic books.

In previous years, Lotte World has always loudly celebrated Halloween with haunted houses, zombie impersonation performances and bloody, scary images.

Even local festivals that focus on Halloween-themed parties were canceled. Daegu Halloween Festival - an important Halloween festival in the city since 2018 is also no longer held this year. According to the South Daegu District Office, this decision was made considering public sentiment ahead of the first anniversary of the tragedy.

Kindergartens and other private educational institutions that used to hold small-scale Halloween parties are also following this trend by canceling Halloween festivals this year.

According to Pulsen News, Korea is preparing for a quiet Halloween. Retail chains, supermarkets, and large shopping centers do not advertise Halloween-related products and sell 40% fewer "ghost festival" products than in previous years.

After the tragedy, inspections at locations expected to attract large crowds, including Gangnam and Itaewon stations, were carried out. Safety personnel and emergency medical assistance are also on standby during the holiday. In addition, certain Seoul routes are subject to one-way traffic during this holiday.

Korea JoongAng Daily reported that Seoul will use a crowd control warning system during the Halloween festival this month. In addition to this measure, Seoul capital officials also increased human resources to prepare for emergency situations and deployed a mechanism to monitor live footage as well as updated information from quick reaction forces.

A broadcasting industry official told Allkpop: "Not only this year, it is possible that Halloween-related programs and events will not be produced or held in the broadcasting industry and performed in Korea in the future".

On October 29, 2022, a disaster occurred when a crowd of about 100,000 people participated in a Halloween festival in the Itaewon district of Seoul. The crowd rushed into an alley and slope next to the Hamilton hotel, causing a terrible stampede that left more than 150 people unable to survive.

Hundreds of people were stuck in the narrow, steep alley and could not move any further as emergency workers and police tried to pull them out. Meanwhile, many people continued to pour into the narrow alley that was surrounded by walls and when the people at the beginning of the steep alley fell, the people behind them fell as well, continuing to crush others.

Among those who died in the Itaewon stampede was a Vietnamese victim. The victims were mainly young men and women, including 26 people of nationality from 14 different countries.

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