Itaewon tragedy sees remaining Halloween events canceled

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Entertainment & Arts

Sat, September 23, 2023 | 07:51

Itaewon tragedy sees remaining Halloween events canceled

Posted : 2022-10-30 12:38

Updated : 2022-10-30 17:09

Signs show cancellation of Halloween-related programs at a children's festival in Gokseong, South Jeolla Province, Sunday, following a deadly crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon area the previous night. Yonhap

By Kim Rahn

Parties and events scheduled for the remaining Halloween weekend have been canceled in the aftermath of Saturday's deadly crowd crush in Itaewon, a major nightlife district in central Seoul.

The cancellations are to prevent any possibility of further tragedies from taking place and out of respect for the large number of people who died. President Yoon Suk-yeol announced a period of national mourning that would last until Nov. 5 in response to the accident.

Everland, a theme park in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, said Sunday that it had closed its Halloween festival that began on Sept. 2 and had been slated to continue until Nov. 20. Its annual Halloween festival is a famous event, which sees a section of the theme park take on a spooky theme.

The park halted all related programs, including a parade featuring classic Halloween characters such as skeletons and witches.

"We regret the accident in Itaewon and express our condolences. We are stopping the Halloween festival and will recheck safety systems," the theme park said in a statement.

Lotte World, another theme park located in southeastern Seoul, also scrapped its Halloween-themed events and removed all information about them from its website.

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Signs show a fisheries festival hosted by merchants at Noryangjin Fisheries Market in Seoul has been scaled down, Sunday, in the aftermath of the tragic Halloween crowd surge incident in Itaewon. Yonhap

Many other festivals and events planned for Sunday were canceled. In Hongdae, another major entertainment district in Seoul where young people gather, shops and restaurants have been holding a "Halloween in Hongdae" event since Friday. Along with a Halloween-themed market that opened on Friday, a street dance festival was also planned for 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Mapo District Office announced on Sunday morning that the dance festival would not be held and all the market booths would be removed earlier than planned.

Busan City also canceled a K-pop concert that had been slated for 7 p.m. on Sunday. This was meant to be the highlight of the Busan One Asia Festival, a major event for the port city.

The concert was planned to return at full scale for the first time since 2019 following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, with 13 K-pop acts performing and some 40,000 audience members expected to attend. But the city government called it off about nine hours before the concert was planned to commence.

A teaser for SMTOWN WONDERLAND 2022, a Halloween party of the entertainment agency's artists. The agency canceled the party and live broadcast of the show. Courtesy of SM Entertainment

The K-pop industry also joined those mourning.

SM Entertainment announced the cancellation of SMTOWN WONDERLAND 2022, a Halloween party featuring its artists that had been slated for Sunday evening.

SMTOWN WONDERLAND is an annual private party that is famous due to the agency's artists participating in high-quality Halloween costumes and incredible makeup. The agency had planned to livestream the red-carpet event through the online streaming platform Beyond LIVE for paying members of SM's fan community, KWANGYA CLUB, for about an hour starting from 6:15 p.m.

"SMTOWN WONDERLAND has been canceled, so there will be no broadcasting of the red-carpet event. We ask for your understanding," the agency said early on Sunday morning through the community club.

Girl group NMIXX posted a video clip of its members in Halloween costumes on its YouTube channel on Thursday, but removed the clip after the accident. The group also called off a planned signing event scheduled for Sunday.

Many entertainment programs on TV have also been canceled out of respect to those involved in the tragedy or were replaced by breaking news about the accident.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr