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Seoul government to implement special safety plan for Halloween crowds in nightlife areas

Published: 24 Oct. 2025, 11:07 Updated: 24 Oct. 2025, 16:43

A police officer stands by in the Itaewon neighborhood in central Seoul on Oct. 31, 2024. [NEWS1]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will roll out a special safety management plan this week for 14 areas expected to see large crowds on Halloween, Oct. 31, including popular nightlife districts like Hongdae, Itaewon and Seongsu.

According to city officials on Friday, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety has issued a Level 1 “caution” crowd warning nationwide to prevent incidents related to overcrowding during Halloween celebrations.

In response, Seoul designated the period from Friday through Nov. 2 as a “Halloween safety management period” and activated a joint response system involving the Interior Ministry, district offices, police and fire authorities.

The city has allocated disaster management funds to help local governments manage crowd safety. Fourteen locations in 10 districts have been designated as high-risk areas for crowd congestion, including the Itaewon Special Tourist Zone, Hongdae Special Tourist Zone, Seongsu Cafe Street, Konkuk University Food Street, Gangnam Station, Apgujeong Rodeo Street, Myeongdong, Ikseon-dong, Wangsimni Station, Yonsei-ro in Sinchon, Balsan Station, Sillim Station, Sharosu-gil and Nonhyeon Station.

Among them, eight areas — Itaewon, Hongdae, Seongsu-dong, the Konkuk University neighborhood, Gangnam Station, Apgujeong, Myeongdong and Ikseon-dong — have been designated as priority zones.

Joint on-site command centers will be set up in these areas, and local disaster control centers and CCTV monitoring hubs will be connected to allow real-time response to any incidents. A central “Halloween emergency operations center” will also operate from the city’s disaster and safety control headquarters, with local governments on emergency standby.

From Friday to Sunday, the first weekend of the safety period, city officials will patrol the priority areas to assess on-the-ground conditions ahead of the Halloween weekend and preemptively prevent accidents.

The city will also use crowd-detection surveillance camera systems that automatically measure the number of people per unit area and alert authorities and the public if congestion risks are detected.

“In particular, if crowd levels in Itaewon’s World Food Street and surrounding areas exceed the ‘alert’ threshold, we will implement one-way pedestrian flows and restrict access as needed,” the city government said.

“If congestion reaches ‘severe’ levels, we are also considering making subways bypass stops at Itaewon Station.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HAN EUN-HWA [[email protected]]