On 29 October 2022, more than 150 people, mostly young, were crushed to death during the festival. This year, security measures have been beefed up, while victims' families are seeking an independent inquiry.
Seoul (AsiaNews) – With Halloween just around the corner, painful memories are coming back in South Korea, a year after more than 150 people were killed, mostly in their 20s, in a crowd crush on 29 October 2022, with dozens injured, in Itaewon, a neighbourhood in Seoul known for its nightlife.
The incident was the worst since the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014, and prompted the authorities to adopt tighter security measures using artificial intelligence to more efficiently detect potential dangerous gatherings.
In the meantime, the legal ramifications of the tragedy are still pending, with the families of the victims waiting for justice.
As a result of the incident, President Yoon Suk-yeol's administration has come under closer scrutiny.
Last February, South Korea's National Assembly impeached Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, forcing him to step down; however, the country’s Constitutional Court overturned that decision a few months later, noting that no single person could be blamed for a tragedy caused by a failure involving multiple government agencies.
Immediately after the event, police were blamed. Only a little more than 130 officers were deployed in Itaewon that night, with only about fifty in uniform, an insufficient number to cope with crowds that had massed for the celebrations.
Last year's Halloween party was also one of the first post-pandemic social events.
Citing data from the Seoul subway, The Korea Herald reports that on the night of 29 October, about 130,000 people travelled to and from the Itaewon Station, up almost 30 per cent compared to 26 October 2019, the last Halloween weekend before the lockdown.
An investigation whose results were made public in January this year also highlighted the lack of adequate safety measures. That night, police, in addition to being insufficient in number at the site of the tragedy, ignored emergency calls from pedestrians who were reporting the dangerous increase in people in the street – no wider than four metres – just before disaster struck.
Transcripts from police stations show that several calls were received nearly four hours before the first deaths were reported.
Eventually, the investigation led to the arrest of six people whose trials are still ongoing. But according to victims’ families, the accused are minor Seoul municipal officials, whitewashing higher public officials of any responsibility.
Left to fend for themselves, families are now pushing for special laws that would require independent inquiries in such cases. A proposal has been submitted to the National Assembly and could be approved during the December session.