August 29, 2025
SEOUL – The Seoul Metropolitan Government has revoked an award given to Yongsan-gu for excellence in festival safety management following public outcry and protests from victims and bereaved families of the 2022 Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon, Seoul.
City officials said the decision to cancel the recognition was made in consideration of the victims’ ongoing grief. Mayor Oh Se-hoon ordered officials to ensure that such incidents are not repeated.
Seoul’s central district of Yongsan has jurisdiction over Itaewon, the site of a deadly crowd crush that killed 159 people and injured 196 others during Halloween festivities on Oct. 29, 2022.
Park Hee-young, who served as Yongsan-gu chief then and continues in the role, has avoided legal accountability for the calamity, arguing the district does not organize the festivities and that partying people gathered spontaneously.
On Aug. 22, Yongsan was named the top winner in the capital’s contest for safety management of regional festivals. The district issued a press release to promote the award, accompanied by a photo of the district chief. Shortly after, the victims’ families issued a statement demanding an apology from the mayor and the cancellation of the award, calling it inappropriate.
Stung by the backlash, Seoul officials explained later that the contest was intended as a workshop to strengthen public officials’ capacity and share case studies in crowd management.
Yongsan-gu also issued a statement Wednesday, saying, “We are truly sorry that we released a related press statement without fully considering the feelings of the bereaved families.”