'Crush' docuseries recounts happenings of Itaewon tragedy

Poster image of upcoming Paramount+ docuseries ″Crush″ [PARAMOUNT+]

A two-part docuseries shedding light on Korea's Itaewon tragedy that took the lives of dozens of young people last year will premiere on Paramount+ on Oct. 17.

Titled "Crush," the documentary centers on the "spine-tingling account of what happened when a Halloween night of celebration turned into a nightmare," according to a press release by the series' PR agency, Perception PR. It was produced by Jeff Zimbalist and Stu Schreiberg.

The Itaewon tragedy took place on Oct. 29, 2022, in central Seoul's neighborhood of Itaewon, locally famous for its Halloween atmosphere leading up to and during the holiday weekend, where hundreds of people became trapped in a narrow alleyway. A total of 159 people died as a result of the incident.

The testimonies in "Crush" come from witnesses of the incident: A U.S. student living in Korea, two off-duty U.S. soldiers, a fashion executive and a Korean illustrator who had been buried in the pile and survived but became partially paralyzed.

It also follows the victims' families as they demanded a thorough investigation into the happenings of the night and the government's response thereafter.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]