Seoul:Up to 125,000 people gathered in the bustling Hongdae district on Saturday for Halloween celebrations, while approximately 30,000 gathered in Itaewon, according to data from the Seoul city government.
According to Yonhap News Agency, real-time data provided by the Seoul metropolitan government indicated that around 30,000 to 32,000 people were present in the Itaewon area as of 10 p.m. The area was described as "crowded," with visitors in their 20s making up 50.6 percent of the total attendees.
The crowd in Hongdae was estimated to be between 120,000 and 125,000, with the district remaining "very crowded" throughout the evening.
In preparation for the Halloween weekend, police had announced the deployment of around 7,800 personnel nationwide to manage crowds, including at 14 key locations across Seoul. Some visitors in Itaewon were also observed laying flowers to pay tribute to the victims of the previous year's tragic incident.
On October 29, 2022, 159 people lost their lives in a crowd crush in Itaewon during the Halloween weekend, marking the country's worst-ever incident of its kind.