[Itaewon Tragedy] Foreign Media Criticize "Police Should Have Controlled Crowd Limits" (Summary)

On the evening of the 28th, ahead of Halloween Day, the Itaewon area in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, was bustling with crowds. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Regarding the Itaewon disaster in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, foreign media criticized the South Korean government's response as inadequate, citing opinions from overseas experts.

On the 30th, major foreign media outlets pointed out that despite this being the first Halloween festival after the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, the South Korean government, including the police, lacked sufficient accident prevention measures.

The American daily The Washington Post (WP) noted in an article that footage from the scene suggests that the narrow streets and alleys could not handle the scale of the crowd gathering.

In another article, WP cited the analysis of crowd safety expert Professor G. Keith Still, a visiting professor at the University of Suffolk in England, who said, "Narrow and confined spaces mean that if the entire crowd collapses as a mass, they cannot get back up," and "It is like a domino effect."

Professor Still emphasized that such accidents do not occur because people trying to escape the crowd push others, but rather, "People do not die because they panic; they panic because they are dying (while being crushed)."

Willem Grezel, originally from South Africa and who said he has lived in Korea for 12 years, told WP, "Only a few police officers were seen near the subway station that evening," adding, "When crowds gather, the police should have controlled the streets and alleys."

The New York Times (NYT) also cited Brian Higgins, an instructor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, saying that the police and public safety officials appeared unprepared to respond to the scale of the crowd that poured out, pointing out, "It seems quite clear that there was insufficient on-site personnel and planning." Higgins added, "It is clear that more people entered the space than it could accommodate," and argued, "There should have been a plan to quickly disperse them once many people were inside."

Another survivor of the accident told the NYT, "Even last Halloween during the height of COVID-19, large crowds gathered," and said, "This year, expecting even more people, the government should have deployed more police to control the crowd."

AFP also mentioned that the South Korean police had announced the deployment of 200 officers in Itaewon for Halloween security, and conveyed a critical view that this disaster is being seen as a 'man-made' tragedy triggered by complacency about safety and lack of preparation. It introduced interviews stating that Itaewon merchants and government officials should have adequately prepared for the large-scale crowd gathering.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) also pointed out that the Halloween culture in Korea has been distorted and lost its original meaning. WSJ reported, "In Seoul, Halloween is not widely celebrated as a day for children to receive candy," and "In recent years, young people in their twenties and those going to parties have turned Halloween into a major event where they dress up in distinctive costumes and go to clubs."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.