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This year the Halloween celebrations in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, will be relatively low-key, because this will be the first Halloween after the Seoul massacre, one of the most serious disasters in recent years in the country: 158 people died during the celebrations in the crowd, crushed to death because they were trapped in an alley just over 3 meters wide near the Itaewon district, in the center of the city. Most of the people, almost all in their twenties and thirties, died from asphyxiation.
That’s why Halloween celebrations will be much more modest this year. The large shopping mall chains Lotte and Shinsegae they decided not to display themed decorations, and in the same way they will not be organized the usual and well-known annual events related to Halloween in the two amusement parks Lotte World and Everland, which until now had included costume parties, parades, shows and themed exhibitions. Many stores and discount stores are not selling pumpkins, costumes, candy and other items. Even some hotels that normally offer Halloween offers are avoiding offering them again.
The Halloween massacre had a very strong impact on public opinion, also due to what emerged in the subsequent investigations, which revealed some political responsibilities, linked to the failure to adopt security measures, promptness in responding to emergency calls and ‘illegal building, which had made the alley narrower than permitted. The owner of a place near the site of the massacre he said a Bloomberg which only recently started having regular customers again, because for months after the massacre people had avoided that area.
In South Korea, Halloween is still strongly associated with the massacre: the many shops that have refrained from promoting initiatives they argue that he did it out of respect for the dead people and for public opinion, still very shaken by the events of last Halloween. The shops, shopping centers and businesses that have instead resumed their initiatives, such as the Japanese discount chain Daiso, have been highly criticized for doing so and accused of not expressing due respect to the people who died in the massacre.
Shoes found at the site of the mob that killed 158 people during Halloween celebrations last year (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
In addition to the cancellation and minimization of Halloween-themed initiatives and events, extensive security measures have also been put in place in South Korea, with police checks and gathering management plans. In Seoul alone, over a thousand officers will be deployed to prevent crowds in the city’s narrowest streets. From Friday to Tuesday, extraordinary security measures will be introduced at 16 points, with police cars that can illuminate the road and make announcements inviting groups of people to split up in case there is a danger of a crowd.
In the four most at-risk neighborhoods of the city, including Itaewon, they will be present members of the equivalent of the Fire Brigade, ambulance and rescue workers. A plan has also been put in place to ensure we have free hospital beds in case there are any injuries.