[REVISION HISTORY]

South Korean Halloween crowd safety measures

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What changed

2026-10-31 21:51 UTC → 2026-11-03 03:24 UTC · added ~~removed~~

South Korean authorities ~~have~~ implemented large scale police deployments to manage public safety during the Halloween period. ~~Initially, the~~ The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency designated a special safety management period from October 23 to November 1, deploying 4,594 personnel to high density areas including Itaewon, Hongdae, Myeongdong, Seongsu, and Ikseon-dong. ~~These measures focused on pedestrian flow management through one way walking paths and traffic control to ensure emergency vehicle access.~~ By October 31, the ~~scale of the~~ operation ~~increased, with~~ increased to approximately 7,800 officers ~~deployed to~~ across 28 ~~high density~~ major management areas nationwide. As the holiday fell on a weekend for the first time since the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush, security measures were intensified. These included full vehicle restrictions on Itaewon-ro, the deployment of police special units, and the presence of armored vehicles to prepare for potential crimes or terrorism. Real time urban data ~~indicated~~ showed significant ~~surges in population,~~ population surges, with the Hongdae tourism special zone peaking at approximately 130,000 ~~people, while~~ people and the Itaewon ~~tourism special~~ zone ~~saw around~~ seeing between 30,000 to and 32,000 visitors. To manage congestion, vehicle traffic in Itaewon was restricted starting at 6:00 PM between the Itaewon 119 Safety Center and Noksapyeong Plaza. ~~Due to extreme congestion,~~ Subway ridership data from Seoul Metro indicated a significant increase at 11 major stations during the ~~Line 6 subway skipped stops~~ Halloween weekend, with a total of 697,844 passengers using these stations between 6:00 PM and midnight, a 17.5% increase from the previous week. On Saturday, October 31, ridership peaked at 356,364. Hongik University Station recorded 94,040 passengers, while Itaewon Station ~~during late night hours.~~ saw 38,953 riders, approximately 2.4 times the volume of the previous Saturday. To manage these crowds, authorities utilized 361 CCTV cameras for real time monitoring and advised citizens to use Noksapyeong or Hangangjin stations to avoid Itaewon Station. While some bottlenecks occurred in narrow alleys, no major incidents were reported. The government raised the crisis alert level to “Caution” in coordination with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Alongside the festivities, many citizens visited the “10.29 Memory and Safety Road” near the Hamilton Hotel to leave flowers and messages in memory of the previous tragedy's victims.

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