Halloween Day Visit to Itaewon... "No Sense vs What's the Problem?"

Seoul City Introduces Crowd Detection CCTV... Sends Disaster Alerts Based on Density

The first anniversary of the 'Itaewon Disaster,' which resulted in 159 deaths, is just two weeks away. Online, there has been a heated debate over whether visiting Itaewon on this year's Halloween (October 31) is 'inconsiderate.'

On the 15th, multiple portals and online communities posted articles titled, "Is going to Itaewon for this Halloween inconsiderate?"

On the afternoon of the 29th of last month, which was Chuseok, attendees held a joint memorial ceremony to honor the deceased at the 10·29 Itaewon Disaster Joint Memorial Altar set up in Seoul Plaza.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The post has attracted significant attention, surpassing 207,000 views within 19 hours of being published. As the author mentioned, opinions were divided between those who believe it is 'inconsiderate' and those who think 'there is no problem.'

One netizen said, "If it were me, I probably wouldn't go. There are many other places, so why insist on going there?" and added, "Many people died, so I don't want to have fun in the same way." Another netizen responded, "I think many people will flock there this year to pay their respects," and "It's the first anniversary, so we should mourn, not party there."

There were also comments like, "What is the reason you must go to Itaewon? The alleys are so narrow and chaotic that it's surprising there haven't been accidents until now. There are many places to have fun, so I'm curious about the psychology of people who insist on going to Itaewon."

On the other hand, a considerable number of opinions emphasized that visiting Itaewon is a personal choice.

Some said, "There is no problem. The businesses there probably rely heavily on Halloween," and others commented, "Avoiding Itaewon might actually harm the local economy and make the memory even sadder. It would be best if there were places in Itaewon both to enjoy and to commemorate."

Another netizen stated, "I have never been there and have no plans to go, but I don't know if it's inconsiderate. However, if it were my acquaintance, I would tell them not to go."

Various opinions have emerged regarding visits on Halloween Day.
[Photo source = Online community capture]

Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has prepared various safety measures, including a crowd management system, to mark the first anniversary of the disaster this year. The system automatically measures the number of people per unit area through CCTV and analyzes crowd density using software.

The city also established a 'Disaster Safety Situation Room' in each district that monitors disaster situations 24 hours a day. By the end of this year, Seoul plans to select 71 locations expected to have crowd congestion across the city and install 909 crowd-detection CCTVs.

In particular, at the critical stage, warning lights will appear on the computer monitors of Seoul city and related agencies, and physical warning lights installed in each situation room will flash while sirens sound. This measure is to ensure that no signs of danger are missed. During the critical stage, disaster alert messages will also be sent to citizens in the affected administrative districts.

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