160,000 people expected to flock to Itaewon ahead of Halloween; Yongsan District to deploy 2,550 safety personnel

[Financial News] With about 165,000 people expected to flock to the Itaewon area of Seoul during this year’s Halloween period, Yongsan District will deploy a large number of safety personnel. The district will also focus its administrative resources on preventing accidents by analyzing crowd density in real time and responding in stages according to congestion levels. Yongsan District said on the 19th that it would run a special Halloween response period for 10 days, from the 23rd through November 1. With Halloween itself falling on a Saturday this year, on the 31st, the district plans to prepare for the possibility of visitors concentrating in the area over the weekend.
After analyzing visitor trends over the past three years, the district estimated that about 165,000 people would visit Itaewon World Food Street, Quynhwon-gil and other areas during the special response period. Accordingly, it plans to deploy about 2,550 safety personnel from relevant agencies, including the district office, police and fire services, to the scene.
In particular, the district will activate a four-stage response system based on real-time crowd analysis and congestion levels. It will refine its criteria for assessing congestion using crowd data collected last year, and analyze data from intelligent closed-circuit television (CCTV), the Yongsan Real-Time Smart Map and the number of passengers getting off at Itaewon Station, among other sources, to assess crowding.
The district also plans to use the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s real-time urban data and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s mass-gathering alert system. If signs of danger are detected, it will check conditions at the scene via CCTV and respond according to the level of congestion.
To this end, since the 12th, the district has been inspecting 218 cameras at 59 CCTV installation sites around Itaewon, as well as 49 emergency bells. 
A joint situation room staffed by relevant agencies will be set up at the scene. Since last month, the district has held three rounds of consultations with Seoul Yongsan Police Station, Yongsan Fire Station, Seoul Metro, military units and a merchants’ volunteer group, among others, and drawn up response plans for each field. The deployed personnel will handle crowd and traffic control, fire prevention, crime response, emergency medical care and facility inspections.
Starting on the 30th, ahead of Halloween weekend, a disaster-site command bus will be deployed to quickly relay conditions at the scene to relevant agencies and support a coordinated response.
Yongsan District Chief Kim Gyeong-dae said, “We will work closely with relevant agencies and leave no stone unturned in managing safety through the final day,” adding, “I hope visitors will also actively cooperate with on-site guidance and controls and help us make this a safe Halloween.”

[email protected] Seong Chorong Reporter