Yongsan-gu, Full Efforts on Safety Management for Christmas and Year-End Holidays

Safety Management to be Implemented in Itaewon Station Area, Haebangchon, Yongridan-gil, etc. until the 31st... Focused Weekend Management during Christmas and Year-End Holidays... Maintaining Conditions on Weekdays... Over 450 Emergency Duty Patrols Deployed, CCTV Intensive Monitoring, Hazard Element Maintenance, etc.

Yongsan-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Park Hee-young) will implement safety management measures in areas expected to have large crowds, such as Itaewon World Food Culture Street, until the 31st in celebration of Christmas and the year-end and New Year holidays.

The district plans to prepare for a safe year-end and New Year period by focusing on ▲operating emergency patrol teams ▲strengthening closed-circuit television (CCTV) monitoring ▲pre-maintenance and guidance/enforcement of safety hazards ▲collaboration with related organizations.

The emergency patrol teams will be organized and operated by officials from the district office and local community centers. The duty schedule is divided into ▲the Christmas weekend from the 22nd to the 25th ▲the year-end and New Year weekend from the 29th to the 31st ▲and other weekdays, with a total of about 450 officials deployed.

On weekends, patrols will be conducted from 7 p.m. to midnight, and on weekdays from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., focusing on areas expected to have dense crowds such as ▲World Food Culture Street, Quinon-gil, and the Itaewon Station area (Yongsan-gu Office) ▲Haebangchon (Yongsan 2-ga-dong) ▲Yongridan-gil (Hangang-ro-dong) ▲Hannam-dong cafe street (Itaewon 1-dong, Hannam-dong). They will check for safety hazards and crowd density. If action is needed, the staff will share the situation via hotline and communicate cooperation requests to the relevant departments as necessary.

CCTV monitoring will also be strengthened. Personnel at the district’s integrated control center will conduct focused monitoring of local CCTVs, including intelligent crowd management CCTV. CCTV monitoring will also be conducted simultaneously at the disaster safety situation room and duty office.

The intelligent crowd management selective monitoring system automatically displays a crisis situation when the alert stage is reached (more than 4 people per 1㎡), and the situation propagation system (Tongham platform) immediately transmits the information to the district disaster safety situation room, duty office, Seoul city, and related organizations.

Damage caused by safety hazards will also be minimized. Each responsible department will conduct pre-maintenance on issues such as ▲accumulated garbage ▲illegal street vendors, roadside accumulations, and outdoor advertisements ▲illegal parking ▲outdoor business activities in the Itaewon Station area including World Food Culture Street, and will carry out focused guidance and enforcement during the implementation period. A medical support team from the public health center will also be operated to prepare for emergencies.

On December 19, the district held two practical meetings with related organizations such as Yongsan Police Station, Yongsan Fire Station, and Seoul Transportation Corporation to establish roles for each institution. In case of emergencies, an organic cooperation system will be maintained for ▲crowd dispersal and control ▲emergency rescue ▲safety management at Itaewon Station and other areas.

Park Hee-young, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, “As 2023 comes to a close, a season filled with gatherings to meet familiar faces has arrived,” and added, “We will do our utmost to ensure safety management so that residents and visitors to Yongsan can enjoy the year-end atmosphere safely.”