Approximately 30,000 People Gather at Gwanghwamun Square According to Police Estimates
Square Cleared Within 15 Minutes After Game Ends
Citizens Help Jongno District Office Workers Move Trash
The World Cup street cheering event, held for the first time since the lifting of social distancing measures, concluded safely under police control. After cheering for the national soccer team, citizens voluntarily cleaned up trash and returned home in an orderly manner, showing a mature attitude.
According to the police on the 25th, about 30,000 citizens gathered at Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul, from 10 p.m. the previous day to watch the soccer match against Uruguay. They supported the national soccer team in various ways, wearing red horned headbands, red scarves, and draping themselves with the Taegeukgi flag. When national team forward Hwang Ui-jo missed a scoring opportunity, the crowd sighed together, and when a Uruguayan player’s shot hit the Korean goalpost, they collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
Nearby pubs around Gwanghwamun Square were also crowded. People paused their beer drinking to focus on the TV screen whenever important moments occurred. Near the end of the match, when a customer shouted “Daehanminguk!” (Republic of Korea) hoping the team would score at least one goal, other customers in the pub responded enthusiastically. College student Jeong Hyun-geun (21) said, “It was my first time experiencing this kind of atmosphere, and it was so much fun. I want to come back to Gwanghwamun Square to cheer with others for the upcoming matches against Ghana and Portugal.”
Civic Consciousness is a 'Complete Victory'... Police Deploy Around 700 Officers for Safety Management
About 15 minutes after the Uruguay match of the 2022 Qatar World Cup ended on the 25th, Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul became clean thanks to the mature awareness of the citizens. Photo by Gong Byung-seon mydillon@
At around midnight when the match ended, citizens began cleaning up the chicken boxes, beer containers, and cheering tools they had used. They brought blue trash bags with a capacity of 100 liters (ℓ) provided by the Jongno District Office to collect the garbage. One citizen helped carry the trash bags alongside a public official from Jongno District Office who was struggling to collect the trash. Citizen A said, “I helped without much thought. It feels good when the streets we share become clean.” Thanks to their help, about 15 minutes after the match ended, Gwanghwamun Square was spotless except for the tied blue bags.
Citizens also showed orderly behavior following the control measures by the police and event organizers. After the match, the organizers announced, “Subway exits 2, 3, and 9 at Gwanghwamun Station are closed. Please use other exits or nearby Jonggak Station and City Hall Station.” Additionally, police officers holding glow sticks controlled the crowd to prevent everyone from rushing to the square’s exits and subway entrances at once. Citizens lined up in turn and headed to Gwanghwamun Station. At the station, people safely returned home by boarding the additional subway trains that were put into service. According to the emergency center set up at Gwanghwamun Square, about 10 people were injured during the cheering event. However, there were no serious injuries; the emergency center explained that most injuries were sprained ankles or abrasions caused by bumping into others.
After the Uruguay match of the 2022 Qatar World Cup ended on the 25th, the police controlled the crowds in front of Exit 7 of Gwanghwamun Station in Seoul. Photo by Gong Byung-seon mydillon@
Meanwhile, to ensure safety management during the street cheering, about 700 police officers were deployed at Gwanghwamun Square, including 150 police officers, 8 riot police companies, and 18 special forces members. The Seoul Metropolitan Government also deployed 276 personnel, and the event organizer, the Red Devils, assigned 341 staff members on site to support citizens’ safety.
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