'Halloween special measures period' designated through Sunday

Mourners visit the site of the Itaewon crowd crush in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Thursday, the fourth anniversary of the Oct. 29 disaster. [Yonhap]
Mourners visit the site of the Itaewon crowd crush in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Thursday, the fourth anniversary of the Oct. 29 disaster. [Yonhap]

Acting Korean National Police Agency Commissioner General Kim Jong-cheol visited Itaewon in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Friday morning to inspect crowd safety measures ahead of Halloween, when large numbers of revelers are expected to gather in the area.

Kim received a briefing on safety management plans from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and personally patrolled the Itaewon tourism special zone. Kim then visited a memorial space for victims of the Oct. 29 Itaewon crowd crush to pay respects.

Working alongside the Ministry of Interior and Safety as co-lead agencies for crowd disaster management, police designated the period from Oct. 23 to Sunday as a "Halloween special measures period" and issued a "Caution" alert — the second level of the crisis warning system.

During this period, more than 7,800 officers — including wide-area crime prevention patrol units and mobile units — will be deployed to 28 priority management zones nationwide, including 14 sites in Seoul designated by the Ministry of Interior and Safety.

Crowd-related calls to the 112 emergency line will be assigned "Code 1" status or higher, the fastest response tier, to ensure rapid deployment. A joint on-site operations center will also be established with local governments and other relevant agencies for real-time information sharing and coordinated response.

Police will also step up preparedness against random attacks targeting unspecified members of the public. Officers including police special forces will be concentrated in busy commercial districts and areas around major transit stations, with counterterrorism operations also under way.


arin@heraldcorp.com