Staff Editorial: South Korea Halloween stampede

On Saturday, Oct. 29, 154 people died in Seoul, South Korea, as a result of a stampede that occurred the weekend of Halloween. On that tragic Saturday night, roughly 100,000 people gathered to participate in Halloween festivities that had been on hiatus in past years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the crowd gathered, people began to push or resist the movement of the crowd, resulting in layers of people falling onto the ground and consequently being crushed or suffocated by the sheer quantity of bodies.

Several factors have been attributed to the catalyst of this stampede. Most prominently, a lack of policing and a focus on commercialism in the Itaewon nightlife district of the city. 

Despite the presence of 137 officers on the scene, police were focused on directing traffic and preventing street crime rather than controlling the massive crowds gathered in celebration. The lack of police anticipation of the crowds that might have gathered for Halloween festivities has been since labeled a horrific oversight that most contributed to the tragedy that South Koreans everywhere must now experience.

In addition to the irresponsibility of law enforcement, the commercial hub of the Itaewon district contributed to the sheer shock and horror of Oct. 29’s catastrophe. The New York Times identified advertisements for Ravo, Fireball Whiskey, and Oasis Cafe & Bar as features of the environment that distracted from and contributed to the stampede. The sparkling neon lights of these ads and many others only created a more haunting image, contrasting in a twisted manner with the bodies that lined the district streets.

While the advertising element was not the primary cause of the stampede, it is one that sticks out in the minds of many Americans—especially as we approach major commercial events such as Black Friday. The horrendous outcome of the massive crowds that gathered in Seoul for Halloween festivities is not one that seems completely impossible in major cities in the United States. Each year, enticing sales draw thousands, if not millions, of shoppers and consumers out of their homes at ungodly hours of the morning and night, which is particularly ironic given the values that Thanksgiving, the holiday that precedes Black Friday by only a day, attempts to promote (see last year’s Lamron piece, “An evaluation of Black Friday: Are the holidays what we make them to be?” for more on this point).

In proceeding with your own personal celebration or acknowledgement of some of this season’s upcoming annual events, we encourage you to reflect on the role that commercialism plays in your life. Though advertisements, particularly around the holidays, drive home values of family, community, and the general feel-good quality of festivity and togetherness, to what degree does this consumerism actually bring us together? Might it be argued that, on the contrary, this commercialism focuses on individual consumerism and thus divides families and communities by focusing on the personal experience of the emotional quality of these advertisements?

With the recent tragedy of Seoul in mind, remember to exercise responsibility and sound judgment in your perspective on the impacts capitalism has on this holiday season and the way it has changed how we celebrate; remember the way that the once jovial Halloween festivities of South Korea this year brought on a tragedy that struck through an entire nation’s heart.