Seoul to implement alert system to manage overcrowded areas

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Thursday that it will implement a system that alerts authorities of overcrowded areas.

The city government’s new safety plan comes nearly a year after the deadly Halloween crowd crush that killed 159 people in the neighborhood of Itaewon in 2022, and is intended to prevent similar accidents from occurring in the future.

The city government stated that it will implement a system that automatically counts the number of people shown on surveillance cameras by Oct. 31. Software connected to surveillance cameras will transmit data to each district office’s disaster situation room, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the fire department and police, upon the detection of overcrowded areas.

It will install 909 surveillance cameras with such software by the end of this year, while specifically focusing on 71 areas around the city that are considered highly populated.

To make sure the new surveillance camera system is operational by Oct. 31, a joint simulation will take place near Konkuk University Station in Gwangjin-gu, eastern Seoul, with police and fire authorities and at Gwangjin-gu District Office on Oct. 25.