Those walking past Exit 1 of Itaewon Station can observe a solemn scene overflowing with chrysanthemums and messages of grief. The Itaewon crush in October led to the highest number of deaths in a single disaster since the sinking of Sewol Ferry in 2014, and many were shocked at how a supposedly fun-filled pre-Halloween night turned into a calamity. Questionable responses from the government and the media further aggravated the frustration surrounding the situation, along with a lack of communal responsibility from the younger generation to display a suitable response during the disaster. It is hard to fathom why so many had to be robbed of their bright future, with the gravity of the disaster sending cold air across the once lively Seoul cityscape.

On Saturday, October 29, a devastating Halloween crowd crush occurred in Itaewon, which left a total of 156 dead and 196 injured. A huge crowd had gathered to celebrate Halloween, leading to a crush in a narrow alley next to the Hamilton Hotel. Due to the physical pressure of the high-density crowd, some people were buried under the bodies of others, leading to difficulty breathing. According to Hankyung, the majority of the deaths were due to cardiac arrest following asphyxiation, with many people passing away even before the rescue operation began.

Community Response 

Due to this shocking incident, Korea has been engulfed by sadness. In particular, parents with children in their 20 and 30s reacted strongly, with one individual stating that “it’s heartbreaking especially as a parent who has children” on an MBC radio program. On university campuses, student unions set up memorials and canceled their festivals. Makeshift memorials were also set up at Korea University (KU) from November 1 to November 5 in front of Tiger Plaza and Nobel Plaza to pay respects to a KU graduate student who was a victim of the disaster. A “Wall of Remembrance for the Itaewon Tragedy” was also created, on which many students left short messages on Post-its expressing their sadness and paying tribute to the victims. In addition, through the Korea University Student Counseling Center (KUSCC), KU provided emergency counseling services in Korean and English.

The government declared a national mourning period from October 30 to November 5. As reported by Yonhap News Agency, President Yoon stated during his address to the nation that this “tragedy and disaster should never have happened” and that the government will “place top priority on administrative affairs in the recovery and follow-up measures.” All official events planned by Seoul and other provinces were either canceled or curtailed, while many Itaewon stores temporarily closed to pay respects to the victims, despite the economic loss.

Despite the nationwide condolences, many people decried the government’s failure to protect so many young lives. On November 5, demonstrations took place in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Government building, where various political groups collectively expressed their grief at the loss. Approximately 200 protesters from a diverse range of youth groups met in Itaewon on the same day, holding banners with the words “At 6:34 P.M., the nation was not there.” This was the precise time when the police received the first emergency call from Itaewon, alerting them of the dense crowd.

The Ensuing Backlash

Blame for the failure to respond at the appropriate time has been laid on the police. According to the Yonhap News Agency, the first police arrived in Itaewon at 11:40 P.M., over an hour after the crush began. Reports say that from 6:00 P.M., signs of an impending crisis were repeatedly reported in a total of 11 police calls. As reported by ChosunBiz, the first call mentioned that “People are intermingled in a narrow alley, which might lead to a crowd crush,” but the police did not respond. This delay in sending police to the scene later raised questions about whether the police response was appropriate. Indeed, Professor Baek Seung Ju (Fire Protection & Safety Engineering, Open Cyber University of Korea) believes that, in terms of the on site response by the police, it is difficult to accept that they demonstrated professionalism in handling the crowd congestion. 

Another underlying issue that may have influenced this response is the insufficient application of the LTE-based public safety (PS-LTE) network. As stated on the website of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS), this system connects public institutions such as the police and fire services through a single wireless network to ensure rapid communication and effective on-site response. The Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that the initial communication between public institutions happened at 11:41 P.M., 90 minutes after the first call to the fire service. After the crowd crush was first reported, information was only transmitted within each institution, with inter-department communication limited. This systematic delay may have worsened the situation.

The government also bears responsibility for the disaster. The fourth article of the Framework Act on the Management of Disasters and Safety strictly states that “the State and local governments shall be responsible for protecting lives, bodies, and property of people from disasters or various other accidents,” emphasizing the government’s role in responding to these incidents. Professor Baek explains that the systematic control of large crowds is the responsibility of the municipal and central governments, who should organize the respective institutions for the deployment of emergency services, medical help, and security. Professor Baek thus argues that both the police and the government misjudged the situation. 

In addition, the dubious actions of related officials have highlighted the ineffective role of the government. According to News1, the Minister of MOIS, Lee Sang Min, who acknowledged the severity of the crisis at 11:20 P.M., was only able to send an emergency message to citizens at Seoul at 11:56 P.M.. In another instance, the Yongsan-gu district Mayor Park Hee-young, despite her initial claims that she “had checked the Itaewon site for an on-site inspection before the accident” CCTV footage taken close to her house revealed that she did not leave her house again after she had returned home at 8:20 P.M. She later admitted that she “returned home without an on-site inspection.” 

While the government is responsible to some extent for the disaster, it appears that they are keen to evade them. On November 8, the Korea National Police Agency (KNPA) conducted a search and seizure operation involving 55 locations, including the Seoul Metropolitan Police, Seoul Yongsan Police Agency, and the Yongsan-gu office, where officials were accused of negligence. However, most of the accused were officials who were present on-site, with few officials of a higher rank a target of the investigation. According to TVChosun, no search and seizure was conducted for the 
Seoul City government or MOIS, leading to allegations that the KNPA investigation was incomplete. This was followed by the death of an intelligence officer at Yongsan Police Station on November 11 who, according to The Korea Times, had been charged with the destruction of evidence, particularly an internal intelligence report, leading to claims of excessive investigation by the police. 

Unfortunately, seemingly inconsiderate remarks by officials are fueling anger and the sense that the government is attempting to pass the blame. For instance, during an interview with MBC, the Yongsan-gu district mayor argued that the Itaewon Halloween event “was not a festival [which has] collective content and a host...it is more of a phenomenon where people gathered on Halloween.” However, referring to this tragedy as a phenomenon seems to shift the responsibility onto those who attended the Halloween event. Nevertheless, there is growing recognition that the government is culpable, with ChosunBiz reporting that a lawsuit aimed at compensation due to the violation of the government’s obligation to protect its citizens has been discussed, with support from the opposition Democratic Party of Korea.

The Responsibility of the Media  

When the incident was first reported on news platforms, unfiltered photographs and video trickled out into the public sphere. This included footage of people pleading for help and unblurred images of bodies lying on the ground while medical workers performed CPR. Not long after the disaster occurred, this media content went viral on various social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. According to Korea Biomedical Review, the Korean Neuropsychiatric Association (KNA) released a statement on October 31 expressing their condolences and urging people to avoid sharing explicit videos and photos of the incident: “Horrible videos and photos [of the Itaewon crush] are being shared without any filtering through social media. These actions can damage the reputation of the victims and lead to secondary damage.”

Considering the disturbing nature of these graphic images, Dr. Grace Kim (Counseling Psychology and Applied Human Development, Boston University) mentions how they may exacerbate the the stress and anxiety for not just the survivors and families of the victims, but potentially for people in the similar age cohorts as the victims. Therefore, social media platforms were swift in asking users to refrain from sharing this content. For instance, Twitter Korea informed its users to take note of Twitter’s policy regarding sensitive content and to avoid retweeting photos and videos from the disaster. Daum Café also requested netizens to report any posts and comments with unverified information that may expose the identities of any of the victims. As reported by The Korea Herald, the police also promised to take strict measures against those who spread misleading information and the National Police Agency dedicated a response center to cyberbullying.

However, many media platforms continued to release upsetting footage and unblurred images of the victims, leading the four major press organizations of Korea – the Korea News Editors’ Association, Journalists Association of Korea, Korea Women Journalists Association, and Korea Internet Newspaper Association – to announce that distributing unconfirmed facts and disparaging others were clear cases of defamation. These organizations issued a joint statement on November 1 stating that hateful expressions and selective reports should not be published, thus preventing secondary damage to the survivors and bereaved families. 

In addition, the Secretary General of the Citizens’ Coalition for Democratic Media Shin Mi-hee criticized news reports containing unblurred photos of the disaster on November 3. According to Media Today, she asked that the media strictly adhere to the general guidelines established for the reporting of a large-scale tragedy for the Itaewon crowd crush. The guidelines, which were established after the sinking of Sewol Ferry, promised to provide prompt, accurate information in the event of a disaster to protect the lives and property of the public, prevent social confusion and anxiety, and protect the identity of the victims at all costs.

According to Chosun Ilbo, the Personal Information Protection Commission and the Korea Internet and Security Agency will “intensively monitor personal information violations related to the Itaewon disaster for a month in November and delete information that can identify specific individuals, such as photos and videos of unblurred victims.” For example, a screen recording of the video taken by BJ Baejiteo and originally hosted on AfreecaTV, a South Korea-based streaming platform, was deleted from YouTube after exceeding 1.6 million views within two days. The video showed the situation in the Itaewon alley when the catastrophe struck and the rescue of five or six people who climbed up the railings of the nearby Hamilton Hotel. This video was taken down by YouTube on November 3 to comply with local laws mandating that unfiltered videos and photos related to the Itaewon disaster be taken off the Internet.

Rather than sharing uncensored content that may worsen the pain and grief surrounding the incident, the media can be utilized more positively to spread information regarding what people can do if caught in a crowd crush. For example, an article written by The Washington Post and published a day after the Itaewon crowd crush, “How to Survive a Crowd Crush and Why They Can Become So Deadly,” answers various questions such as “What should I do if I am stuck in a crowd crush?” and “Is there a way to plan and lower my risk if I am attending a crowded event?” based on information from experts in the field. The Korea Herald also released a graphic sharing useful information on what to do if stuck in a crowd crush. 

Critical Commentary on the Youth 

Even though this tragic incident led to the whole nation mourning the loss of so many young people, there were some who failed to recognize the gravity of the issue, many of whom were of the same age as the victims. When the incident occurred, many members of the crowd in the narrow alleys of Itaewon were not fully aware of the seriousness of the situation and the disaster unfolding.  

This is clearly shown in footage taken on the day, including a video of drunk individuals singing and dancing to loud music while unintentionally blocking ambulances that were attempting to get to the scene. Images of emergency responders and sober members of the public trying to save the severely injured victims using CPR were also captured in the video. According to Today, Singapore’s national online newspaper, witnesses at the scene claimed that when the crowd was told to disperse by the police, some responded with “Then where are we going to party?” The viral video garnered more than 200,000 views on YouTube in 13 hours, sparking outrage among not only Koreans but also international viewers, with criticism that the behavior was inappropriate and disrespectful despite being clouded by alcohol because it delayed medical attention from being received.

Additionally, the accounts of a few survivors who reported climbing up to the terrace of a pub to seek refuge only to be chased out received significant media coverage on various online platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. According to Safe Times, people who had barely escaped the crowd crush were kicked out by staff because they did not have an entry bracelet or stamp. The article also mentions that, even though the pub was completely full, the employees cursed at them to go back down while being fully aware of the severity of the situation outside on the streets. This lack of a sense of community, in which business is prioritized over public safety, has been roundly criticized by netizens.

Due to the traumatic consequences of the Itaewon crush, the South Korea Policy Briefing, a portal site run by the government, provides information and a checklist to determine if someone is suffering from stress, trauma, depression, or even post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr. Kim added on, explaining how it is “completely normative to experience psychological, physical, and cognitive short-term reactions after a traumatic event.” She suggested one way to recover from these negative emotions is to stay resilient and remind oneself that these reactions are not out of the norm, and that social support can be of big help as well. 

On the official website of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, there are special psychological support services available at 225 psychiatric institutions in Seoul, and additional counseling centers were established by the National Center for Disaster and Trauma. Dr. Kim highly recommends seeking help when needed as counseling or psychotherapy can be very helpful in recovering from a community trauma. She also emphasized how seeking professional help is not something to be ashamed of as it can help people to get the support they need and feel more grounded.

The unfortunate Itaewon tragedy has highlighted the need for South Korea to employ better crowd control in narrow alleys. However, this tragedy should not be politicized, given any excessive or inappropriate coverage in the media, or exploited to blame certain groups of people, whether it be authorities or the victims. With psychological help and support provided by the nation, Korea should bounce back stronger. To prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future, it is necessary that Korea sets in place more effective systems to swiftly respond to calls for help.