[Itaewon Tragedy] Companies Join Mourning... Event Reductions and Cancellations, Erasing Halloween

On the 31st, a citizen is paying tribute to the victims at the memorial space for the victims of the 'Halloween crowd crush' accident set up in front of Exit 1 of Itaewon Station on Seoul Subway Line 6 in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] As hundreds of casualties occurred in the Itaewon crowd crush tragedy ahead of Halloween, companies joined in mourning by scaling down or canceling internal and external events and suspending Halloween marketing and events.

According to the industry on the 31st, Samsung Electronics plans to hold its founding anniversary event scheduled for the 1st of next month as modestly and quietly as possible. At the Suwon plant, only internal events such as the outstanding employee awards ceremony will be held simply with the attendance of executives and some employees.

This founding anniversary ceremony is the first major event since Chairman Lee Jae-yong was promoted from vice chairman to chairman, but following a quiet inauguration without a separate inauguration ceremony or speech, this founding anniversary is also planned to be held quietly. This is also influenced by the social atmosphere where large events or activities are being refrained from during the national mourning period lasting until the 5th of next month.

Companies mourned the victims and their families and hastily stopped various marketing and events planned during the Halloween period. Samsung Electronics ended the Halloween gourmet party event planned to be held in Seongsu-dong, Seoul for three days from the 28th early right after the Itaewon crowd crush tragedy occurred. The SmartThings Daily Life Diary advertisement featuring ghost characters reflecting the Halloween atmosphere was also stopped from exposure. LG Electronics ended the Halloween event of the 'ThinQ Escape Room Cafe' operated in Gangnam-gu early.

Samsung C&T Corporation stopped the Everland Halloween festival, which opened on the 2nd of last month, early. Originally, the festival was scheduled to run until the 20th of next month, including parades and street performances featuring characters such as skulls, witches, and pumpkins, as well as fireworks shows, but all programs were stopped after the Itaewon tragedy.

Korea Airports Corporation fully canceled the commemorative events for the resumption of Jeju Air’s Gimpo-Osaka route and China Airlines’ Gimpo-Taipei route, which were to be held on the 3rd floor of the international terminal at Gimpo Airport the day before. The Chemical Industry Day ceremony hosted by the Korea Petrochemical Industry Association, the Korean Federation of Chemical Societies, and the Korea Chemical Industry Council, scheduled for the same day, will proceed as planned, but considering the sorrowful social atmosphere, the evening banquet will be omitted. A moment of silent tribute will also be held before the event.

Major economic organizations issued statements expressing condolences related to the Itaewon tragedy and began postponing events. The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry conveyed a message saying, "We pray for the repose of the victims of this accident and offer our deepest condolences to the bereaved families," and added, "The business community will also seek and implement various measures to contribute to creating a safe society at the corporate level." The Federation of Korean Industries and the Korea Employers Federation also extended condolences to the bereaved families and expressed hope that the accident will be resolved quickly. The Korea International Trade Association decided to indefinitely postpone the '2nd Trade Industry Forum: Policy Suggestions for Enhancing Logistics Competitiveness' event scheduled for 3 p.m. that day due to the Itaewon accident and the declaration of the national mourning period.

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