"Waited Shivering for Hours"... Busan Gwangalli Drone Show Canceled Amid 80,000 Crowd

Official Apology Statement to Be Issued in the Name of Suyeong District Mayor
Drone Show to Be Rescheduled for 7 PM That Day

The drone show scheduled to be held at Gwangalli Beach in Busan to welcome the New Year was canceled due to a communication failure. The 82,000 citizens present at the site were outraged.

According to Suyeong-gu, Busan, on the 1st, around midnight, the 'Gwangalli M Drone Light Show' using 2,000 drones was planned to be performed at Gwangalli Beach.

Drone show held last Chuseok at Gwangalli Beach.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The performance was set to begin 3 to 4 minutes before midnight, counting down the remaining time until 2024, and conclude by painting the image of a 'Blue Dragon' in the night sky.

Before the cancellation, about 82,000 citizens had gathered at the site. Due to the dense crowd around Gwangalli Beach, safety advisory messages were sent out warning of the heavy congestion.

However, the delayed performance was ultimately canceled around 12:30 AM due to a sudden communication failure. Citizens who had waited in the cold for a long time to watch the show were deeply disappointed.

In particular, the rehearsal video spread on social media before the show raised expectations, and not only citizens from all over the country but also foreign tourists had gathered to see the performance. Many had booked accommodations months in advance, paying two to three times the usual price.

One citizen told Yonhap News, "If you include all the people in the buildings surrounding Gwangalli Beach and on the sandy beach, the audience surely exceeded 100,000. Most people welcomed 2024 without even realizing midnight had passed. What about the time, disappointment, and hardship of those who shivered for hours in anticipation?"

He added, "There was not even an apology broadcast to the citizens at the site."

In response, a Suyeong-gu official said, "We sincerely apologize to those who waited for a long time in the cold weather. We tried several times over 30 minutes to resume the performance but were unable to do so."

He also explained, "Due to the urgent situation, we could not make an apology broadcast at the site," and added, "An official apology letter will be issued soon under the name of the Suyeong-gu mayor."

Suyeong-gu plans to hold the drone show again around 7 PM on the same day, which was not conducted the previous day.