quote:

At least 146 people were killed and 150 more were injured as they were crushed by a large crowd pushing forward on a narrow street during Halloween festivities in the capital of Seoul, South Korean officials said.

Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul's Yongsan fire department, said the death toll could rise and that an unspecified number among the injured were in critical conditions following the stampede in Itaewon on Saturday night.

Officials say people were crushed to death after a large crowd began pushing forward in a narrow alley near Hamilton Hotel, a major party spot in Seoul.

More than 800 emergency workers and police officers from around the nation, including all available personnel in Seoul, were deployed to the streets to treat the injured.

The National Fire Agency separately said in a statement that officials were still trying to determine the exact number of emergency patients.

TV footage and photos from the scene showed ambulance vehicles lined up in streets amid a heavy police presence and emergency workers moving the injured in stretchers. Emergency workers and pedestrians were also seen performing CPR on people lying in the streets.

In one section, paramedics were seen checking the status of a dozen or more people who lied motionless under blue blankets.

Police, which were restricting traffic in nearby areas to speed up the transportation of the injured to hospitals across the city, also confirmed that dozens of people were being given CPR on Itaewon streets. The Seoul Metropolitan Government issued emergency text messages urging people in the area to swiftly return home.

A local police officer said he was also informed that a stampede occurred on Itaewon's streets where a crowd of people gathered for Halloween festivities. The officer requested anonymity, saying the details of the incident was still under investigation.

Some local media reports earlier said the crush happened after a large number of people rushed to an Itaewon bar after hearing an unidentified celebrity visited there.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a statement calling for officials to ensure swift treatment for those injured and review the safety of the festivity sites. He also instructed the Health Ministry to swiftly deploy disaster medical assistance teams and secure beds in nearby hospital to treat the injured.

Local media said around 100,000 people flocked to Itaewon streets for the Halloween festivities, which were the biggest since the start of the pandemic following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in recent months.

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ust a cattle mentality when it comes to huge, compressed masses of humans. The Who in Cincinnati back in 1979 has been long forgotten.

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Originally posted by drill sgt:
From my personal experience (1969-1970) the Korean people were very supersticous.... On halloween night 1969 myself and a buddy wrapped ourselves up in white rags (head to toe) to give the dead body / dead zombie look and went off compound into the local village (Munsan-ri) and walking the alley ways in a "zombie" type walk which had the local citizens running scared...Did this for a hour or so then went back to our compound only to find out the next day that the local and national police were looking for us with orders to "shoot on sight"... Guess that I am in the clear as the statue of limitations has hopefully expired. ................................. drill sgt.

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Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I did not know that Halloween was that big a deal in South Korea!
Another example of how adults have ruined what formerly were pleasant holidays for kids: Christmas and Halloween.

quote:

The vast majority of the hundreds of people who were caught up in the fatal crowd crush incident that occurred in central Seoul's Itaewon during Halloween celebrations on Saturday night were Koreans in their teens or 20s. As such, some consider the tragedy a representation of the generational divide between older and younger Koreans.

While many older Koreans are simply uninterested in the celebration of Halloween, younger Koreans, particularly those of Generation Z, are used to celebrating the annual holiday.
...

Regarding how Halloween started to interest younger Koreans, there are two common explanations. One centers around the nation's English education boom, while the other is that younger Koreans' Westernization in their cultural pursuit has been impacted by hallyu-driven migration that has been evident since the 1990s.

Koreans became familiar with Halloween in the 1990s when several bars, nightclubs and hotels located around Itaewon started to host Halloween parties. Many media called the events "weird" and accused them of "cultural toadyism" due to the costumes and atmosphere, as well as the fact it originates from Western countries.

Koo Jeong-woo, a professor of sociology at Sungkyunkwan University, pointed out that the 1990s was the time when foreign nationals ― mostly youth ― started to come to Korea. Those foreign nationals played a role in promoting Halloween among youths, but events were held on a smaller scale compared to now, according to the sociologist.

Koo said Generation Z contributed to creating the huge festive atmosphere as seen in a handful of nightlife areas, including Itaewon. Generation Z refers to those born between 1996 and 2005.

"Generation Z is the group that has the biggest desire to express themselves. Before, a lot of people didn't dare to wear costumes and hit the streets. However, the culture has transformed (since Generation Z started to reach adulthood)."

Lee Taek-gwang, a professor of English literature at Kyung Hee University, said the nation's English craze has partly contributed to younger Koreans' celebration of Western culture annually.

According to him, Korean teens and those in their 20s were the generations who learned English at kindergarten or private institutes as part of their preschool language education, and celebrating Halloween was part of the curriculum they were taught.

"So, those who were exposed to Halloween during their childhood years naturally take it as part of their culture and keep celebrating it even after they became adults," he said in a media interview.

Lee also said companies have taken advantage of Halloween as part of their marketing strategy, noting that along with childhood English education, corporate marketing contributed to the holiday's spread.

The media has also played a role in glamorizing Itaewon streets, too.

Some say younger Koreans' celebration of Halloween is a media-driven phenomenon.

In JTBC's hit TV series "Itaewon Class," there's a scene where the protagonist likens festivals to freedom. As the scene portrays multinational visitors enjoying food and drinks while strolling happily through Itaewon, she says, "Everybody seems so free."

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Originally posted by parabellum:
photohause, you know better.

Old

Tired

Unfunny

Roger that...sorry.

Annoying

and BORING

That's what stuff like that is.