Itaewon, Hongdae and Seongsu-dong under intensive management — CCTV monitoring and on-site command centers activated
Seoul's major entertainment districts are on high alert ahead of Halloween, with three district offices mobilizing safety personnel and surveillance systems to manage expected crowds. The areas under intensive management include Yongsan-gu's Itaewon — still marked by the memory of the 2022 crowd crush — as well as Mapo-gu's Hongdae, a hub for young visitors, and Seongdong-gu's Seongsu-dong, which has seen a surge in foot traffic drawn by pop-up stores and commercial venues.
Halloween falls on Saturday this year. With the holiday coinciding with a weekend, district offices are expecting heavy visitor concentrations in major commercial areas and have launched preemptive safety measures — including on-site inspections, deployment of safety personnel, CCTV monitoring and strengthened coordination among relevant agencies.
Yongsan-gu conducted a joint inspection with partner agencies centered on Itaewon's World Food Culture Street, while Mapo-gu deployed civil servants and safety personnel throughout the Hongdae tourism special zone to bolster on-the-ground response. Seongdong-gu divided Seongsu-dong and the area around Wangsimni Station into separate management zones and said it would also apply its own crowd-risk assessment system.
Yongsan pays tribute to Itaewon crowd crush victims, conducts joint agency inspection
Ahead of Halloween, Yongsan-gu joined the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Yongsan Police Station and other partner agencies Thursday for a safety inspection of Itaewon's World Food Culture Street, where large crowds are expected to gather.
About 20 people attended the on-site inspection, including Yongsan-gu District Mayor Kim Kyung-dae, police officials, members of the Yongsan District Council, and representatives from community organizations such as the volunteer crime-prevention patrol and the tourism special zone association.
Participants first visited a memorial space for victims of the Itaewon crowd crush before surveying pedestrian flow routes and sections at risk of dangerous crowding along the World Food Culture Street.
They then held an inter-agency meeting at the on-site command center to discuss safety measures and areas for improvement. The real-time monitoring system using crowd-detection CCTV cameras was also reviewed.
Yongsan-gu and police confirmed their cooperative framework to ensure rapid information sharing and joint response should crowds surge during the Halloween period.
Mapo deploys 64 civil servants and 241 safety personnel for Hongdae
Mapo-gu will maintain safety management in the Hongdae tourism special zone from Friday through 3 a.m. on Nov. 1, in anticipation of large crowds.
Over the nine-day period, the district will deploy 64 civil servants, 241 safety personnel and 20 volunteer disaster-prevention team members. Compared with last year, the number of civil servants has been reduced while the number of safety personnel has been increased — a shift aimed at raising the professional quality of on-site crowd management and reducing coverage gaps during late-night shifts.
A joint on-site command center has been set up at the creative center inside Hongik Culture Park, relocated from its previous position in the plaza in front of Sangsang Madang to minimize disruption to pedestrian traffic and nearby businesses.
Mapo-gu District Mayor Yoo Dong-kyun visited the Hongdae tourism special zone on Friday, the first day of safety operations, to review the safety management plan and designated intensive management zones at the command center. He then inspected the club street, the AI crowd-density analysis system and areas where emergency alert display boards have been installed.
He urged personnel to pay particular attention to pedestrian safety in narrow alleyways and sections where sidewalks meet roadways.
Alongside on-site operations, Mapo-gu said its 24-hour CCTV integrated monitoring center and disaster safety operations center will track conditions in real time and share any identified hazards with relevant departments for immediate action.
Seongdong applies its own risk-rating system across four Seongsu-dong zones and Wangsimni Station
Seongdong-gu is stepping up crowd safety management centered on Seongsu-dong and Wangsimni Station. Preliminary surveillance began Friday, and an on-site command center will operate for three days from Sunday through Nov. 1.
The district has divided the area into five zones — four covering different sections of Seongsu-dong and one at Wangsimni Station — and will patrol major streets and subway station exits in each. Professional security personnel will be stationed on Yeonmujang-gil, where visitor concentration is highest, to manage pedestrian flow.
The district will also apply its crowd-safety rating system, introduced in August, which evaluates the risk of crowd surges in advance — such as those triggered by pop-up store events or celebrity visits — and classifies situations into three tiers: routine, caution and intensive. Safety measures are then calibrated to the assigned tier.
An on-site command center staffed by the district office, police, fire department and other relevant agencies will be established at Seongsu-dong Shoe Theme Park. Congestion data gathered through on-site patrols and CCTV monitoring will be shared in real time, and any warning signs will trigger immediate measures such as separating pedestrian routes and directing crowd dispersal.
Pedestrian safety measures will also be expanded. The district's pedestrian safety street program, previously operated only on weekends, will run an additional session on Sunday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. to manage vehicle access in the Yeonmujang-gil area.
Seongdong-gu will maintain a cooperative framework with Seoul Metro to handle increased congestion at Seongsu Station, and an ambulance will be stationed on site on Halloween day to respond to medical emergencies.
On-site response and inter-agency coordination are key to crowd management
The three districts' approaches reflect their different local conditions. Yongsan-gu has focused on inter-agency cooperation and reviewing its on-site response framework in the wake of the Itaewon crowd crush. Mapo-gu is concentrating safety personnel in the Hongdae tourism special zone while combining AI-based crowd analysis with CCTV monitoring. Seongdong-gu is using its risk-rating system to classify crowd-surge risks in advance and operating a zone-by-zone response structure.
Effective Halloween crowd management requires more than simply deploying large numbers of personnel. Identifying bottlenecks — such as narrow alleyways and subway exits — in advance, dispersing pedestrian flow when crowds build rapidly, and ensuring that agencies can mount an immediate joint response when warning signs emerge are all critical.
With large numbers of residents and visitors expected to head to Itaewon, Hongdae and Seongsu-dong over the weekend, the key question is how quickly and effectively each district's safety measures will perform in the field.
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
