On 29 October 2022, at approximately 22:20, a crowd surge occurred during Halloween festivities in the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul, South Korea, resulting in 159 deaths and 196 injuries. The total number of fatalities includes two individuals who died following the incident. Most victims were young adults, and 27 were foreign nationals.
The incident was the deadliest disaster in South Korea since the sinking of the MV Sewol in 2014 and the most severe mass-casualty event in Seoul since the Sampoong Department Store collapse in 1995. It was also the deadliest crowd crush in South Korean history, surpassing a 1959 incident at the Busan Municipal Stadium in which 67 people were killed.
A special police task force initiated an investigation within days of the event and concluded on 13 January 2023 that inadequate preparation by the police and government, despite multiple prior warnings, was the primary cause of the incident.
In the aftermath, and throughout the investigative period, the government and police faced widespread criticism and protest. President Yoon Suk Yeol and his administration were the subject of several protests calling for his resignation; however, he did not step down. The president initially acknowledged partial responsibility for the incident but later retracted his acknowledgement and shifted responsibility elsewhere.
Itaewon is a neighborhood located within the Yongsan District of Seoul. Its modern history is closely connected to the former United States military installation at Yongsan Garrison, established in 1945. As numerous bars and brothels emerged in the area to serve military personnel, the district became associated by many Koreans with social controversy and safety concerns. Approximately two decades after the end of the Korean War (1950–1953), Itaewon underwent a process of gentrification, and in 2018 the U.S. military relocated its base facilities to southern Seoul.
In recent years, Itaewon has developed into a major center for nightlife, featuring a concentration of nightclubs, restaurants, and bars. The area now attracts both domestic and international visitors, whereas previously more than two-thirds of patrons at its dining and entertainment establishments were American. The district has also been perceived as a space where individuals can step outside traditional expectations in South Korean society, which has been shaped by long-standing Confucian social hierarchies and norms of conformity.
Beginning around 2010, the celebration of Halloween experienced a notable rise in popularity in South Korea, with Itaewon becoming a particularly prominent location for related festivities.
The area immediately around the crush is characterized by very narrow streets and alleys without escape routes. Nearby are Exit 1 of Itaewon Station and the Hamilton Hotel.
The street where the crush occurred is about 45 metres (150 ft) long and 3.2 metres (10 ft) wide at its narrowest point. The street had an iron temporary wall that reduced its width. Its narrow width impeded emergency services attempting to enter it. The street slopes upwards from the main street of the district, Itaewon-ro. This incline later caused people to be pushed downward, with dozens of people falling onto others.
Authorities had been concerned since at least 2020 about the crowding issue, but did not act on these concerns. An expert in mass movement and spatial arrangement and behavior at Sejong University later said to The Washington Post, "If you just surveyed the site and discussed possible countermeasures, anyone with instinct and experience would have been able to foresee the situation."
Conditions before the disaster
On the evening of 29 October, approximately 100,000 people, mostly in their teens and twenties, attended Halloween festivities in the area.
It was the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that Halloween festivities could be attended without social distancing or mask-wearing requirements. After an outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 was traced back to the area, authorities had even threatened partygoers in 2021 with harsh penalties if they violated the rules. When restrictions on social gatherings during the pandemic were lifted, they were able to visit freely.
Witnesses later reported that the streets were packed with people. An eyewitness claimed that around 19:00 local time (KST), a walk from Itaewon station that normally took 1 minute took over 10 minutes.
Lack of government preparation
Although Seoul had a real-time crowd size prediction system based on mobile phone data at the time, the system was not activated on the night of the crush according to local media.
Despite the massive crowds, it was later reported that only 137 police officers were on duty at Itaewon at the time. By contrast, 6,500 officers were assigned to monitor a protest of around 25,000 people elsewhere in Seoul on that night, and 1,300 officers had been assigned for a BTS concert for 55,000 earlier in the month. Reportedly, four days before the disaster, the Itaewon police substation had requested backup due to the anticipated crowds. Despite this, another police notice two days before the crush did not associate the size of the crowds with danger. It instead warned of sex crimes, theft, traffic congestion, and drug and alcohol abuse. An officer with instructions to wait to be dispatched in response to any crimes that night said that there had been no mention of crowd control that night or the days leading up to Halloween. In addition, the police later stated that they did not have a crowd control plan in place that evening because they did not have a central organizer.
According to a later statement by the national police chief, the Seoul police station received 11 emergency calls related to the size of the crowd as early as four hours prior to the incident, but did not intervene.