AI, drones guard nightlife districts as Seoul ramps up Halloween safety measures

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will deploy artificial intelligence crowd (AI)-monitoring cameras, airborne drones and mobile command buses across 14 major nightlife hubs starting Friday as part of an intensive safety management campaign ahead of Halloween.

The special safety management period, running from Friday through Nov. 1, comes as city officials brace for large weekend crowds fueled by a surge in international tourism. Monthly foreign visitor arrivals to Korea recently topped 2 million for three consecutive months, bringing total inbound travel between May and September past 10 million.

The heightened vigilance reflects lingering national trauma from the October 2022 crowd crush in Itaewon, which claimed 159 lives in a narrow, sloped alleyway. That tragedy prompted a sweeping overhaul of Korea’s municipal safety protocols, transforming Halloween from a loosely managed commercial event into one of the country’s most heavily policed and technologically monitored public gatherings.

The targeted zones include eight high-density priority areas — Itaewon, Hongdae, Seongsu-dong, Myeongdong, Ikseon-dong, the Gangnam Station corridor, the Konkuk University food alley, and Apgujeong Rodeo Drive — alongside six secondary safety areas spanning Wangsimni Station, Sinchon Yonsei-ro, Balsan Station, Sillim Station, Sharosu-gil and Nonhyeon Station.

Across the 14 targeted districts, 361 AI-powered crowd-sensing cameras will track pedestrian density in real time. If crowd levels reach a critical threshold of five to six people per square meter, automated alerts will immediately notify municipal, police and fire command centers to initiate crowd-dispersal protocols. Drones will fly above Hongdae, Seongsu-dong and Gangnam to stream live video feeds of bottleneck points to ground managers.

On Halloween night, which falls on a Saturday this year, authorities will close Itaewon-ro to vehicle traffic to expand walking space, while converting one lane of Hongdae’s main club street into a dedicated pedestrian walkway. In narrow alleyways, such as Itaewon’s World Food Street, one-way pedestrian lanes and queue-control barriers outside popular venues will prevent overcrowding.

In total, 3,271 public officials, police officers, firefighters and professional safety stewards will be stationed on the ground, with 1,620 assigned directly to Itaewon. At Noksapyeong Square, a mobile command bus equipped with satellite communications and high-output loudspeakers will serve as an emergency hub. If overcrowding reaches critical levels, subway trains will bypass key stations, including Itaewon and Hongik University stations.

The citywide effort builds on independent safety infrastructure prepared by local borough offices. Yongsan District, which oversees Itaewon, has established 24-hour video monitoring, scheduled 20 public safety broadcasts per hour during peak periods, and designated dedicated emergency medical corridors to ensure unimpeded access for ambulances.

“With Halloween falling on a weekend alongside a major increase in foreign tourists, thorough preparation is vital,” said Kim Seong-bo, Seoul’s vice mayor for administrative affairs. “We urge all visitors to follow the instructions of safety stewards and adhere to one-way pedestrian flows.”

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.