Hongdae Red Road Crowds of 120,000 Without Incident!... Mapo-gu's 'Safe Halloween' Operation a Great Success

From October 25 to November 1, Special Crowd Management at Hongdae Red Road Ensures 'No Crowd Accidents'
Over 1,500 Personnel Including District Office, Police, Firefighters, and Private Staff Deployed for Safe Crowd Control at Red Road

Mapo-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Park Gang-su) announced that the 7-day ‘Halloween Red Road Special Safety Management’ was successfully completed at 3 a.m. on November 1.

During this year’s Halloween period, when approximately 120,000 people flocked to the Hongdae Red Road?far exceeding the initially expected 100,000?the district collaborated with related organizations such as the Mapo Police Station (Chief Go Seok-gil), Mapo Fire Station (Chief Seo Young-bae), and Seoul Metro to devote all efforts to safety management.

The district formed a ‘Halloween Crowd Management Task Force’ during the special crowd safety management period and set up an on-site joint situation room and emergency medical room at Red Road R4 to conduct phased crowd control and traffic regulation.

To this end, about 1,500 personnel including Mapo-gu officials, police, firefighters, professional safety management staff, local autonomous disaster prevention groups, and tourism environment security officers managed the crowds from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. the following day from October 25 to 30.

Especially on Halloween day, October 31, crowd management continued until 3 a.m. on November 1, ensuring thorough on-site response.

To prevent safety accidents, safety personnel were deployed around the Hongdae Entrance Station exits, Red Road sections R3 to R5, and the club street?areas with concentrated crowds?and potential hazards were preemptively addressed to ensure safe pedestrian movement.

Illegal parking was addressed in 166 cases, personal mobility devices in 101 cases, and 244 cases of illegally abandoned items on sidewalks were removed to eliminate risk factors.

Additionally, two road facilities requiring urgent repairs, such as potholes, were fixed to prevent fall accidents, and a special waste collection team operated in the Red Road area to immediately collect trash obstructing pedestrian paths and maintain street cleanliness.

Crowd management on the Hongdae Red Road stood out not only for manpower but also for the use of advanced information and communication technology.

Last year, the district installed six ‘AI Crowd Density Analysis Systems’ in preparation for crowd congestion and successfully prevented accidents by broadcasting warning messages during the 2023 Halloween period.

This year, to further enhance safety, three additional systems were installed, bringing the total to nine AI systems that provide real-time guidance on crowd density and immediately broadcast warning announcements in case of danger.

Alongside this, in October 2024, five new double-sided ‘Disaster Text LED Boards’ with improved visibility were installed throughout the Hongdae Red Road to continuously provide crowd density information and instantly display safety messages and response instructions during emergencies.

To ensure pedestrian safety in the heavily crowded club street, the district expanded the sidewalk width from the existing 3.5 meters to 4.4 meters, reducing congestion. Additionally, about 200 order-maintaining safety fences were purchased and temporary central dividers were installed in the club street and Red Road R3 to organize pedestrian flow and encourage citizens to keep to the right side.

The district stated that despite the massive crowds visiting the Red Road area, the event concluded without a single accident thanks to the understanding and cooperation of local residents, members of the Mapo Club Association, local merchants, and citizens who actively helped maintain order.

Meanwhile, until November 3, the district plans to continue closely monitoring crowd conditions around the Red Road through the AI Crowd Density Analysis Systems, the Disaster Safety Situation Room operating 24/7 year-round, and the CCTV Integrated Control Center to ensure the highest level of safety management.

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “With the belief that there is no such thing as excessive safety, we did our best in crowd management, which allowed us to safely conclude Halloween. Going forward, we will continue to strengthen cooperation with related organizations to ensure that people can enjoy their daily lives in a safe environment.”